While his Chelsea career did not work out as well as he would have liked, Danny Drinkwater was fortunate enough to play with some quality players in West London.
The midfielder joined the Blues after they won the league under Antonio Conte, however this was a transfer window that would go down as one of their worst as they failed to match the heights the next season.
This was despite having the genius that is Eden Hazard in their ranks. Drinkwater said Conte wasn’t a fan of Hazard in training, despite his excellent performances on the pitch.
The English midfielder was frozen out at the club towards the end of his time at Stamford Bridge, with Drinkwater excluded from first team training as they looked for his career there to come to a permanent end.
He had the chance to feature alongside the likes of N’golo Kante and Cesc Fabregas for Chelsea, with the pair establishing themselves firmly as legends of the club.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
The Spaniard’s impact was as big on the pitch as it was off it. Fabregas convinced Pedro to join Chelsea over Manchester United, with him going on to enjoy his own illustrious time at the club.
It seems he was having equally as big impact on the way they conducted themselves in training to. Drinkwater told ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents’ that he was always pushing the Blues to play forwards during training in order to replicate it in a game.
He said: “Cesc Fabregas was a joke. Unbelievable. Paul Scholes was my pinnacle midfielder. I played against Cesc quite a few times, and when I played with him – he could see things as well mate.
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“It’s something he’d push in training [playing forwards quickly]. Even if it was a small-sided game and it was quite tight and you were looking to bounce a pass, he’d be pushing you to hit the frontman.”
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Drinkwater’s sour relationship with Chelsea
Drinkwater only player 23 games for Chelsea, finding the net once in what turned out to be a nightmare spell at the club.
While things didn’t end on the most outrageous of terms between both parties, it looks as if the Blues have no interested in recognising the efforts the player put in at Stamford Bridge.
Drinkwater was denied tickets by Chelsea for their trip to Manchester City, with him sharing his unhappiness at the situation as a result.
While Fabregas is a player who Blues fans will never forget, the same cannot be said for the former Leicester City man.