Drinkwater opens up on 'shambolic' Chelsea career and hopes for revival at Reading

The Chelsea loanee, who hasn't played in the Premier League for the Blues since 2018, came off the bench for the Royals during a victory at Fulham.

Drinkwater won the title with Leicester in 2016, earning an England call-up and a £35million move to Chelsea the following year, but his career has since plummeted downhill.

Having made just 23 top-flight appearances for the Blues, the 31-year-old has become English football's forgotten man after failed loan spells at Burnley, Aston Villa and, most recently, Turkish club Kasimpasa.

The last three seasons have been littered with off-the field problems too, with a nightclub incident at Burnley and a training ground fight at Villa.

Now into the last year of his Chelsea contract, and presumably in search of a new side, the midfielder is keen to get his once-promising career back on track.

"Can I paint a picture? No. It's been a shambles," he told talkSPORT at Craven Cottage after playing over an hour in Reading's 2-1 win.

"It's football, it's never straightforward, it's never simple. I'm just excited for the new challenges.

"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."

He added: "I'm desperate for games, I know my position and I know it's not what I've expected for ten years.

"So I've got to make changes and I'm making the right steps.

" 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."

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