Now World ViewI won the Premier League but Chelsea gave me one hour to find a new club
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Danny Drinkwater has revealed he was once given one hour to depart Chelsea after a last-minute decision from Maurizio Sarri. The former Leicester City and Manchester United midfielder made just 23 appearances across five years at Stamford Bridge – with the majority of those coming in his first season.
Drinkwater, 35, started his career at United and he enjoyed time out on loan with the likes of Cardiff, Barnsley and Watford before securing a permanent move to Leicester in 2012. He cemented himself as an important member of Nigel Pearson's Foxes side as they won promotion back to the Premier League in 2014/15.
The three-cap ex-England international then helped Leicester stay in the top-flight before being part of the team that famously won the Premier League in 2015/16. He was an integral part of their success – and stayed at the club for the following season before earning a blockbuster £35million move to Chelsea in September 2017.
Drinkwater was in and out of the Chelsea side in his first season at Stamford Bridge owing to injuries and form. He ended up finishing the season with 22 appearances, with 12 of them coming from the start. The midfielder won the FA Cup at the end of his maiden campaign – although he didn't feature in the final.
But the appointment of Sarri in summer 2018 changed Drinkwater's Chelsea career for good. He played 30 minutes in the Community Shield against Manchester City, but he didn't feature again after that. In fact, after the arrivals of Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho, Drinkwater was pushed down the pecking order.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Drinkwater reflected on his second summer at Chelsea and their competition for places in midfield. “Looking back actually, I remember Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta] tried giving me a heads up about this when I was in that second season,” Drinkwater said.
"So I was in there with Cesc [Fabregas] on that Sarri first pre-season, so it would've been me and Cesc [Fabregas], Kova [Mateo Kovacic] might have been there, and they were trying to bring Jorginho in.
"N'Golo was obviously there wasn't he? So N'Golo [Kante], Cesc and me, I can't remember if Kovacic was there at the time. But then Azpi's like; 'Drinks, if they bring Jorgi in, which they're going to, they want to, you need to think about what you want to do here'."
Drinkwater was then quizzed about the time where he had an hour to leave Chelsea, and added more context to the story. He added: "So Sarri's English, again, when he came, wasn't the best…
"That first window after the summer, it was like the last day of the window. My son was one-year-old here, so I've got stuff off the pitch that I'm focusing on, as well.
"[Gianfranco] Zola came and saw me, and said; 'Drinks, the gaffer would like to see you'. I was like; 'Yeah, buzzing, sweet'. And I didn't expect anything from it.
"I came up and he's like; 'I think you should go on loan'. So I was like; 'What? What time is it'? I was like saying; 'I've got an hour to get a club, what do you mean'?
"And he's like; 'No no, loads of like… I've got a Serie A team, loads of teams asking about you'. [I'm] like; 'Nah, nah, I ain't going out of England, are you mad'?
"Just had a baby, I'm a footballer but I'm a dad, I ain't going anywhere. So he's like; 'Well, you may get frustrated'. I was like; 'Well, I'm going to get frustrated aren't I? This is a joke'."
Drinkwater ended up staying at Chelsea for the 2018/19 season – but played zero Premier League minutes before moving to Burnley on loan. He spent five years at the Blues and left at the end of his contract in 2022.
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