Signed in the last knockings of the summer transfer window, Danny Drinkwater is believed to be unhappy with his lack of game time under Antonio Conte.
To be fair, it’s understandable, Cesc Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakayoko have hardly been off-the-scale alongside N’golo Kante. Conte though has persevered with them despite their obvious flaws. Fabregas is too slow, and not defensively minded. Bakayoko has just had a nightmare start to his Chelsea career. He may still come good.
Antonio Conte is looking increasingly likely to be elsewhere next season, as such, Drinkwater will wait to see who the new manager is before making a decision on his future.
Drinkwater was brought from Leicester City for £35m. The obvious hope was he’d link up with Kante and reprise their partnership that helped the Foxes win the Premier League title in 2015-16. It’s never quite materialised. The two have featured in 523 minutes of time on the pitch at the same time. That’s equivalent to just under 6 games.
Clearly Conte doesn’t rate the 28-year-old, and injuries have hampered his time on the field, but his appearances have been sporadic to say the least. The craziness is, it’s been clear for all to see, that the Kante/Fabregas partnership was not working in a four man midfield. Conte’s stubborness to change though, has personified Chelsea’s season.
The chances are there is very little in this story. Player not playing = player not happy. The narrative suits Chelsea’s situation very well at the moment. You could put any players name into that equation, at any club, and it was always add up.
At least we can console ourselves with the fact that the season is nearly over. The only humiliation we face between now and mid-may, is a possible FA Cup defeat to Southampton, Manchester United or Tottenham. To be honest I think I’d take defeat to Southampton better.