Tunisia World Cup
I remember watching Danny Drinkwater lift the Premier League trophy with Leicester City in 2016, thinking this was just the beginning of something special. The way he controlled midfield alongside N'Golo Kanté made them arguably the most effective central pairing that season, with Drinkwater completing 82% of his passes and creating 34 chances during their miraculous title run. Fast forward to 2023, and his career trajectory serves as a cautionary tale about how quickly football fortunes can change, especially after high-profile moves to clubs like Chelsea.
When Chelsea paid £35 million for Drinkwater in 2017, I thought it made perfect sense. He was reuniting with Kanté, moving to a Champions League club, and getting the recognition his Leicester performances deserved. But what followed was arguably one of the most dramatic declines I've witnessed in modern football. He made just 12 Premier League appearances for Chelsea across three seasons, spending time on loan at Burnley, Aston Villa, and Turkish side Kasımpaşa before his contract finally expired in 2022. The numbers tell a brutal story - from starting 30 matches in Leicester's title-winning season to managing just 23 appearances across all clubs in his final five professional years.
I've always believed that timing and fit matter more than raw talent in football careers, and Drinkwater's situation perfectly illustrates this. Chelsea changed managers three times during his first two years at the club, with none of them seeming to rate him particularly highly. Antonio Conte, who signed him, preferred Cesc Fàbregas alongside Kanté. Maurizio Sarri arrived with Jorginho following him from Napoli. Frank Lampard favored youth products like Mason Mount. Drinkwater became what I call a "square peg in a round hole" - a player whose specific skills didn't match what his managers wanted from that position.
The loan moves never provided the fresh start he needed either. At Burnley, he made just one appearance before being sent back early. His Aston Villa stint yielded four appearances before another early termination. The pattern was clear - clubs took a chance on his reputation, but the player who dominated midfields for Leicester seemed to have vanished. I recall analyzing his brief appearances during this period and noticing his sharpness had clearly diminished, likely due to the lack of consistent playing time.
What fascinates me about these career declines is how they often mirror broader patterns in sports. Just as Drinkwater's career took unexpected turns, we see similar unpredictability in other leagues. For instance, in Philippine basketball, the defending champions recently faced their own challenges with back-to-back games - traveling to Ynares Center in Antipolo to take on Blackwater on May 21 before battling NLEX at the Philsports Arena just three days later on the 24th. That kind of schedule tests a team's depth and adaptability in ways that parallel what Drinkwater experienced moving between clubs and systems.
The psychological aspect of Drinkwater's decline interests me most. Going from being integral to a title-winning side to becoming a peripheral figure at multiple clubs must have been mentally devastating. In his rare interviews, he spoke about losing his love for the game and the confidence that once defined his play. I've seen this pattern with other players - once that self-belief erodes, it's incredibly difficult to recover, regardless of technical ability.
His final season at Reading in the Championship provided glimpses of the player he once was, with 32 appearances suggesting he'd found some stability. But by then, at 32, the top-level athlete had faded. When he announced his retirement earlier this year, it felt like the inevitable conclusion to a story that had been writing itself for several seasons.
Reflecting on Drinkwater's journey, I'm struck by how many promising careers get derailed by poor timing and circumstance rather than lack of ability. The Chelsea move that seemed like a step up ultimately became the turning point that sent his career spiraling. It's a reminder that in football, as in life, the obvious next step isn't always the right one. The player who once orchestrated one of football's greatest underdog stories now serves as a sobering example of how quickly things can change in this sport we love.
