Forgotten Chelsea flop Danny Drinkwater has hit back at criticism over his surprise new job – several years on from his sensational Premier League title triumph.
The former midfielder was part of the Leicester squad that lifted the top-flight trophy in a stunning upset in 2015-16 before joining Chelsea in 2017 in a £35million move.
He made just 22 appearances during a debut season hit by injuries, however, and quickly found himself frozen out of the first-team picture at Stamford Bridge.
Drinkwater was sent out on unsuccessful loans to Burnley and Aston Villa in a bid to revitalise his career but disciplinary problems off the pitch also dogged him.
The now 34-year-old pleaded guilty to drink-driving after crashing his car in 2019, an incident that injured two passengers and saw him handed a 20-month driving ban.
Danny Drinkwater has hit back at fans after he was mocked for his surprise new job
Drinkwater, a Premier League title winner at Leicester, shared a photo from a construction site
Later that year, he suffered an ankle injury after an alleged nightclub fracas. In March 2020, Drinkwater also headbutted Villa team-mate Jota during a training session.
Drinkwater, whose last appearances came on loan at Reading in the 2021-22 season, was recently hard at work on a construction site, judging by social media photos.
In the first snap shared on his Instagram stories, Drinkwater, clad in an orange t-shirt underneath scaffolding, took a selfie accompanied by the caption: ‘On site today…’
After he had logged out, though, he clearly received several messages from users poking fun at his new gig. Drinkwater then decided to hit back in another post.
Retorting to a reply which read, ‘F****** hell Danny, you’ve hit rock bottom’, he responded by saying: ‘Some of these messages, behave.
Drinkwater endured a horror spell at Chelsea and decided to hang up his boots last year
After joining in a £35million deal, Drinkwater made 22 appearances in his debut Blues season
‘I love being on site grafting! It’s a choice.’
It is not known whether Drinkwater’s pivot to construction less than a year after his decision to hang up his boots is a full-time job or simply a part-time hobby.
Speaking on the High Performance Podcast after announcing his retirement, he said: ‘It’s been a long time coming maybe, especially with the last year, but I think it’s time to officially announce it now. I think I’ve been in limbo for too long.
‘I’ve been wanting to play but not getting the opportunity to play at a standard or a level where I felt valued. I’m happy not playing football but I’m happy playing football, so do I just shake hands with the sport?
‘It’s all I’ve known. It’s been my life since I was six, seven years old.
‘It was never going to be an easy thing. If I was playing week in, week out and I had to say I’ve got to stop, maybe through injury or through just age, not being able to get about the pitch like I’d like to, I think it would be trickier.’
