Chelsea are steeped in success. The prestigious Premier League football club lives, eats and breathes silverware, with the outfit’s transfer activity over the past few decades clinching some of the game’s most coveted stars…
This season alone, the west London side have spent over £550m on new arrivals, and despite falling into mid-table mediocrity, the affluence paves a crystallised path to sustained success; indeed, since the turn of the millennia, the Blues have won 23 honours, with Manchester City winning 17 competitions and Manchester United gleaning 26 trophies.
But sometimes, the torrential influx of talent gushes wide of the mark, and one signing that stands bitterly tall among the mass of acquisitions is Danny Drinkwater, whose £35m transfer from Leicester City in 2017 can be viewed as nothing other than a comprehensive and costly failure.
How did Danny Drinkwater do at Chelsea?
Despite playing an integral in the Foxes’ unprecedented title-winning 15/16 campaign, starting 35 Premier League matches en route to glory, Drinkwater miserably failed to replicate the success when switching to Chelsea.
After his arrival, the Englishman could not integrate into the side as planned and played just 22 matches across all competitions, starting only five times in the league.
In total, the 33-year-old would play just 23 times, meaning he forged one solitary appearance after his stuttering maiden season, with the player branding his time at the club a “shambles” after moving on in 2021.
His showings for the club works out at roughly £1.5m an appearance, illuminating just how shocking a failure the transfer turned out to be for former Blues boss Antonio Conte, with former technical director Michael Emenalo saying “he is a typically combative English midfielder with a cultured passing technique and his arrival significantly strengthens our midfield options” after the centre-midfielders arrival.
With two failed loan stints at Burnley and Aston Villa while on the books at Stamford Bridge, the once flourishing career of the enterprising midfielder fell apart, with drink water never quite rekindling his former vigour.
Where is Drinkwater now?
After leaving Chelsea and penning a heartfelt letter explaining his pathos at how things turned out at Stamford Bridge, Drinkwater has failed to find a new club after being released upon the expiry of his contract last summer.
Labelled a “forgotten man” by author Mark Worrall, there may well be no way back for the industrious ace, with the detrimental transfer to Chelsea undoubtedly now viewed with overwhelming regret for all parties involved.
The Blues are steeped in success, and more often than not strike true when crafting their teams, but Drinkwater’s miserable time at the club will remain one of the biggest blunders in the Premier League’s modern transfer history.