Chelsea signed Danny Drinkwater back in 2017 but the Premier League winner’s time at Stamford Bridge has been forgettable and he is now on his fourth loan spell away
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Danny Drinkwater admits his Chelsea spell has been a “shambles” as he aims to revive his career.
The Premier League winner left Leicester for the Blues back in September 2017 for £35m.
Chelsea spent more on the English midfielder than they did on N’Golo Kante, but its fair to say they’ve not had the same impact.
Drinkwater only played 23 times for the west Londoners with his last outing coming in 2018.
With his contract winding down he needs to impress on loan at Reading this term having struggled in previous spells away.
He told talkSPORT : “Can I paint a picture? No. It’s been a shambles.
“I need to [kick-start my career]. I’m more excited about this than I have been for a few years now, especially how my career’s panned out.
“Games, getting the enjoyment of football back, then going from there. A few have slid away, I’ve made mistakes, I’ve not played.
“I’m in the last year of my contract, so there’s more than just football riding on it. I’ve got other things.
“I’ve just got to keep in contact with the manager, trust each other and trust the team. Hopefully they trust me and we can build on that.”
Drinkwater has spent time out on loan at Aston Villa, Burnley and Kasımpaşa.
At both English clubs he was involved in physical exchanges that landed him in hot water with Villa fining him two weeks wages after clashing with Jota.
The 31-year-old admits it was whilst at Villa Park that the penny really dropped.
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Having struggled with injuries his fitness wasn’t where it needed to be and Drinkwater was handed a reality check.
“Villa was the biggest wake-up call in terms of my fitness,” he said previously. “I was catching up three pre-seasons, a full season with no football and half a season where I’ve played two games. And I’m thinking ‘eight games, I’ll be fine’.
“I was trying to rush it and, to be fair, Dean Smith was quality. He didn’t put any pressure on me, but I felt like I had no time.
“I played four or five games and I didn’t manage to do anything.
“The fans were waiting for Danny Drinkwater and this loaf of bread turned up in midfield.”
He made his first Reading appearance in their surprise 2-1 win at Fulham on Saturday, appearing from the bench.
The Royals have struggled thus far whilst the Cottagers are looking to bounce back to the top flight, but it was the Berkshire outfit who came out on top.
