Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has told Danny Drinkwater in no uncertain terms that he has no future at the club under his tutelage.
The English stalwart’s solitary appearance this season came in the Community Shield, with Sarri opting to ostracise him from his starting XI for the rest of the campaign.
The 29-year-old signed for the Blues from Leicester City in the summer of 2017, but only managed to feature in 12 Premier League matches under former manager Antonio Conte.
Drinkwater has been unable to establish himself in a Chelsea squad which boasts a plethora of top class midfielders, such as N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, despite being at full fitness over the last two years.
Sarri has now revealed that he deemed the former Foxes star surplus to requirements after initially evaluating the squad his Stamford Bridge, insisting that he is “not suitable” for his infamous Sarri-ball system.
“As he knows very well, he has never played because, in my opinion, he is not suitable to my system, to my way of playing,” Sarri told a press conference on Wednesday, as per The Guardian.
“I told him everything in August. He appreciated it but he decided to remain. And so he knew very well the situation.”
“I spoke with him in August, when the market was still open and said he should look for something different because he wouldn’t play.
“He’s a good player and he’s able to play in a 4?4?2 or a 4?2?3?1 very well. But he’s not suitable for me.
“I cannot do anything [for him].”
Drinkwater now looks set for a summer transfer away from Stamford Bridge, despite the fact his current contract is due to run until 2022.
The tenacious holding player was one of the best players in the Premier League when Leicester won the title in 2016, but he has been unable to prove himself at an elite club since his switch to Stamford Bridge.
Sarri’s latest comments have compounded a miserable week for Drinkwater, who was charged with drink driving on Monday after a one-car collision in Cheshire.
He has not travelled with the Chelsea squad to Slavia Prague for their Europa League quarterfinal clash on Thursday night and it would surely be in his best interests to now seek alternative employment and get his career back on track.
