Danny Drinkwater was bought by Chelsea in the summer transfer window in 2017, is now set to be sold by the club, as Chelsea is ready to cut their losses.
Chelsea are looking for a favourable offer to offload Danny Drinkwater after spending £30 million on him, to only sell him in less than 12 months. According to a report by English Publication Daily Mail, the Blues will consider offers, including loans, for the midfielder ahead of next season even though the identity of next manager is still unclear.
The English international, who was praised for his heroics in Leicester City’s Premier League title-winning season in 2016 has struggled to make his mark at Chelsea since the start of the last season, as Drinkwater only managed to start 5 Premier league games under manager Antonio Conte. In addition, Drinkwater has lost his place in England’s National team.
Last year, Drinkwater pushed hard for his big move to Stamford Bridge and handed in a transfer request to force Leicester to sell him to Blues, but the move to Chelsea has turned sour.
He hoped to renew his old midfielder partnership with N’Golo Kante that pushed Leicester to the Premier League title in 2016, but injuries to Drinkwater hampered his development at the club, as the pair only started six times together in all competitions this season.
This led to Drinkwater finding himself behind the likes of N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, and Tiemoue Bakayoko in the central midfield pecking order. Hence, Drinkwater got minimal opportunities to impress at Chelsea and now finds himself being labelled as an outcast within the squad.
Chelsea seeks to offload the player to minimize the ‘losses’ club suffered, but as of now there are no reports of any club having a genuine interest in the 28-year-old player. There are expectations of offers in future for the midfielder as Drinkwater has a significant amount of experience in the league.
According to reports, Chelsea are trying to sign Nice’s central-midfielder Jean Michael Seri ahead of next season. The arrival of another midfield star will further limit Drinkwater’s opportunities in West-London based club, meaning Chelsea would try to reduce their losses by sacrificing former Leicester City man.
The Nice playmaker will probably cost around £35 million, and Chelsea could use the funds from Danny Drinkwater’s sale to offset the outlay that will occur, should they be able to land Jean Michael Seri.
Considering the attitude of Chelsea’s board towards Drinkwater, it doesn’t feel that the management of the club prefers to make him stay, and they would like to sell him to gain some monetary amount for the transfer window to buy players they want this season. Hence, it looks like that the exit of Drinkwater from Chelsea will soon happen, a sale that will be the best decision for both the parties involved.
