Drinkwater back in Chelsea after poor loan spell at Burnley
Journeyman Danny Drinkwater has returned to Chelsea after a very uninteresting loan spell at Burnley.
The England midfielder Drinkwater joined the Clarets in August after making only five league starts for Chelsea following a £35million move from Leicester in 2017.
Drinkwater to return to Chelsea after unsuccessful loan at Burnley.
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But Drinkwater, who was sidelined for nearly three months after an incident outside a Manchester nightclub in September left him with an ankle injury, departs Turf Moor having played less than two and a half hours of football.
Drinkwater managed just 59 minutes in the Premier League, in the 4-1 home defeat to Manchester City last month, after playing in the Carabao Cup defeat to Sunderland in August.
“He just hasn’t had the pitch-time,” said Burnley manager Sean Dyche, confirming that Drinkwater will return to Chelsea when his loan deal expires on Monday.
“Obviously there was a moment in between when we had injuries where he probably would have played, but these things happen in football.”
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Dyche said the nightclub incident had prevented Drinkwater from making his mark in Lancashire.
“He’s been a credit to himself with the way his professionalism has been, other than the incident,” Dyche said before the FA Cup tie with Peterborough.
“The way he’s recovered from that, the way he’s looked after himself, he’s tried to be part of the group.
“We just haven’t got him as much game-time as what he wanted, and what he needs as well.
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“But I like him a lot, I like him as a player and a character and I wish him well.
“The incident was unfortunate, it cost us a lot more time than we thought – us and him, of course – and in that time we got reasonably good value from the team with points on the board.”