His time at Stamford Bridge didn’t work out as expected, but he wouldn’t change his decision to join the Blues if he could go back in time.
Danny Drinkwater is in two minds about his Chelsea tenure after admitting he would never turn down a transfer.
However, the former midfielder has regrets about how his career turned out for the Blues. Drinkwater spent five years at Chelsea, but made just 23 appearances for the club in total.
The 36-year-old’s time at Stamford Bridge has seen a number of incidents, including a training pitch collapse while on loan and an on-pitch brawl with the under-23s. During an appearance on Truth or Padel with David Ornstein, Drinkwater was forced to answer a key question about whether he regrets joining Chelsea in 2017.
When he lost a padel point and had to respond, the former midfielder said: “No, I don’t regret moving. Looking back, I regret how it turned out. I think I could never have given it up.”
In an extended episode on The Athletic’s YouTube channel, Drinkwater spoke about his Chelsea career and how it didn’t go as planned. He explained: “[Antonio] Conte was my first year, we kind of hit it off towards the end.
“The whole ‘Why didn’t I play as much as I thought I would, that’s what you brought me to the club’ kind of thing. I think we (Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante) played one game together, which is crazy (they played 12 times together at Chelsea).
“I think the way [Maurizio] Sarri’s unwillingness to use me as a player was really crazy with the time he gave me and the way he introduced me. I just felt it was crazy. And then you got Conte sacked, the club handled it in a way I didn’t want to be a part of and it was used against me.”
Drinkwater discussed his highlights, including being fined two weeks’ wages for headbutting Aston Villa team-mate Jota. The former midfielder was on loan when he clashed with the Spaniard, which ended in a physical altercation.
Drinkwater explained: “I think there’s just been a couple of situations – I mean, I’ve been fined a huge amount of money for something that’s pretty standard really. I understand there was more than one thing that happened, but yeah, I was banned from the first team for something or nothing. It was just a circus.
“They didn’t give me an official ban, but I was kicked out of the first-team building after the Villa incident. I mean, you play football, hell, why do you want everyone’s best mate 24/7? It was just a circus, mate.”
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