Danny Drinkwater opens up on Chelsea nightmare and sudden Maurizio Sarri snub

Danny Drinkwater lifted the lid on his extraordinary snub by former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri as he expressed his relief his nightmare at the club is over.

Drinkwater, who joined Chelsea from Leicester for £35million in 2017, is a free agent after his time at Stamford Bridge officially concluded at the end of last month. His five years in West London saw him play only 23 times in all competitions and leave on loan on four occasions.

The midfielder, 32, admits he is relieved his disastrous spell with the five-time Premier League winners is over and insists he is not bitter about how the last five years have gone, even if he is angry.

"I'm relieved, because it's clear it wasn't a situation that was good for me or the club," Drinkwater told Sky Sports when asked about his departure from west London.

"I'm angry because of how it's gone and how I was treated - not bitter though, what ifs. It was a long time coming."

Drinkwater made 22 appearances in his debut season, but his final game for Chelsea came in the 2018 Community Shield defeat by Manchester City at Wembley, when there was little indication that would be his final outing for the Blues.

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That appearance came under Chelsea's former Italian manager Sarri, who later that summer told Drinkwater with an hour of the transfer window to go that he was going to be sent away on loan, with assistant and Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola having to translate the conversation.

"It got to the last hour of the transfer window and [I] got pulled into the office, not expected at all," added Drinkwater. "'Don't think you're going to be in our plans'. This is Sarri, being translated by Gianfranco. And I was like 'what?'.

"Sarri and I got on like a house on fire off the pitch. On the pitch, we were like chalk and cheese. I was like - 'why are you telling me now? An hour before the window closes? I need time'. He replied, 'No, no, we've got clubs abroad you can look at…'

"My reaction was - 'No, I've got my young son. He is my priority'. So I decided to stay until January."

Drinkwater did not play another game in the 2018/19 season and left on a short-term loan to Burnley for the first half of the 2019/20 campaign. After just one Premier League appearance, Drinkwater's loan ended and he spent the second half of that season with Aston Villa. He was sent back to Chelsea early after a reported altercation with Villa teammate Jota during a training session.

The midfielder spent the 2020/21 campaign on loan in Turkey with Kasimpasa, where he played just 11 league games before returning to England last season to join Reading on temporarily, prior to his Stamford Bridge release.

While with the Royals, Drinkwater played 33 times in the Championship and scored once in England's second tier.