From Premier League star to no club: Danny Drinkwater’s ordeal and the importance of mental health in football

It was a feat, something truly epic. Those words, used almost automatically in football and sport in general, do justice to the title of the city ​​of leicester in the 2015-16 Premier League. Not even the most optimistic fan of the foxes He could imagine his humble team, which had finished fourteenth the previous season after being resurrected Championship, was about to triumph against the great powers in the most competitive championship in the world. But it happened.

Claudio Ranieri was the “architect” which has strengthened many players with great qualities, but who until now had not been able to make the leap, and has assembled every piece of the puzzle in an unbeatable way. Among them was there Danny Drinkwaterthe midfielder was sold a year later to Chelsea for £ 32m and a member of Roy Hodgson’s shortlist at Euro 2016.

Everything has been given to him to continue to triumph, but today he is without a club. How is it possible? What had to happen for the career of a player who hasn’t stopped growing and crumbling in such a short time? To tell it was himself in an interview for SkySports. And the story is chilling.

His time at Chelsea was far from meeting his expectations. He played 23 games, of which he only completed 90 minutes in eight, scored one goal and was loaned out four times. first to Burnleythen to Aston Villa, then to kasimpasa Turkish and finally Reading of the English second division.

The beginning of Drinkwater’s “hell” began in mid-2018 when Blues manager Maurizio Sarri and his assistant Gianfranco Zola told him on the last market day that they would not take him into consideration. “I have a little son. He is my priority. Why are they telling me now? I need time.”, withdrawn. In fact, there was no time, so he decided to stay and only in January 2019 did he change teams.

Despite this, he could not find his place and was approached by negative thoughts, which in many cases were far from the sport. “I felt like I wasted time, wasted my best years. I wonder what would have happened if I stayed at Leicester, if I got injured, if they treated me better, “he described his time at the London club.

Then, there came a time when it became clear that his problem was definitely not football, but personal: “I suffer from mental health problems. My grandfather passed away, my father was diagnosed with leukemia and I lost my dog. I started driving drunk. It was not me. I made a big mistake. I was fighting for my son, but I was lost, “he said with an open heart.

Despite having great internal suffering, he was convinced that he could do it without any outside help. But I needed her. “I didn’t think he was depressed, but I went to the psychologist and I’m happy because if I didn’t, I don’t know how it would have gone. I was alone, I was fighting and fighting, “he was honest in the middle of the interview, which can be of great help to anyone going through a similar situation.

Football-wise, he continues with no clear direction, after his last stint at Reading, but has settled his head, which will most likely help him meet his best version on the pitch again. “There are options. It’s just about making the best decision,” he concluded, waiting for a new opportunity.