With just one hour remaining in the 2018 summer transfer window, Danny Drinkwater said that Maurizio Sarri informed him he was not a member of the Chelsea squad.
The 32-year-old Englishman struggled to live up to his price tag in West London and failed to leave a lasting impression. He joined the Blues from Leicester City in the summer of 2017 in a transaction estimated to be worth over £35 million. After his contract with the Blues expired, he departed the team earlier this month on a free transfer.
Drinkwater recounted a difficult interaction he had with Sarri during the summer 2018 transfer window when speaking to Sky Sports UK.
“It got to the last hour of the transfer window and I got pulled into the office, not expected at all.
“’Don’t think you’re going to be in our plans’. This is Sarri, being translated by Gianfranco Zola. And I was like, ‘What?’ Sarri and I got on like a house on fire off the pitch. On the pitch, we were like chalk and cheese.”
“I was like, ‘Why are you telling me now? An hour before the window closes? I need time’. He replied, ‘No, no, we’ve got clubs abroad you can look at.’
“My reaction was, ‘No, I’ve got my young son. He is my priority’. So I decided to stay until January.”
Drinkwater played for 30 minutes in the Community Shield defeat to Manchester City in Drinkwater's lone outing that season under Sarri. He appeared for the Blues in 23 games overall and scored one goal.
After one season, Sarri ultimately decided to leave Chelsea and take over Juventus in his native Italy. He found it difficult to play his lively style of game in the Premier League, although he did help Chelsea win the Europa League.