Danny Drinkwater

Paxi

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Starting this in the spirit of no mega threads so..

What's up with Chelsea going for him? Is it Conte's decision? The times are reporting that the club and the manager are split on the transfer targets.

Is he going to be only a squad player or will he play alongside Kante again?

In any case, I can not believe Chelsea would sell Matic to us. Chalobah to Watford and loan Ruben Loftus-Cheek only to buy Drinkwater and Bakayoko as replacements.

Drinkwater is alright but shouldn't Chelsea be aiming a little higher?


Ah well feck 'em!
 

FlawlessThaw

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Drinkwater and Kante is a league winning midfield I suppose
 

Can7onA

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Conte wants him to link up with Kante again and recreate the all conquering Leicester midfield!

He's dropped the ball on this one Conte and I hope the Matic sale bites him massively in the arse.
 

Paxi

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Could this be one of Emenalo's bright ideas again?
 
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Adam-Utd

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He's english (they need to get their quota up) and he will be a decent midfielder who will be happy to play rotation.

They've currently only got Kante and Fabregas (bakayoko when fit) for CM, so they really need a 4th body.
 

prateik

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Not a bad squad option.. and he is homegrown.
Their new Sidwell/Scott Parker.
 

Paxi

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Conte wants him to link up with Kante again and recreate the all conquering Leicester midfield!

He's dropped the ball on this one Conte and I hope the Matic sale bites him massively in the arse.
So why sell Chalobah and loan RLC? Both of whom are good players imo.
 

arthurka

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Chelsea works in mysterious ways these days.. Vodka and nuclear fallout finally taking it´s toll on Roman?
 

AR87

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Drinkwater's a solid player, but if they were to sign him it would seem like a very roundabout way of assembling a midfield without having a comfortable amount of depth and potentially not being better in the short-term.
 

Hullyback

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To be fair he's actually a pretty fine player, the fact he's English, plays for Leicester and has a name you'd expect in Coronation Street probably taints peoples opinion on him. Watching him play he's a hard grafter, decent on the ball and has great vision (check out some of his through balls for Vardy)

If he was called Fernandez/Morvoux/Bratwurstinger and played in Spain/France/Germany some would rave about him being a hidden gem. Guarantee it. Already seeing Liverpool fans wax lyrical about Seri, a few days ago none of them had fecking heard of the guy.
 

DWelbz19

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To be fair he's actually a pretty fine player, the fact he's English, plays for Leicester and has a name you'd expect in Coronation Street probably taints peoples opinion on him. Watching him play he's a hard grafter, decent on the ball and has great vision (check out some of his through balls for Vardy)

If he was called Fernandez/Morvoux/Bratwurstinger and played in Spain/France/Germany some would rave about him being a hidden gem. Guarantee it.
Already seeing Liverpool fans wax lyrical about Seri, a few days ago none of them had fecking heard of the guy.
'If he wasn't English' is more of a cliche than the purported idea behind it, these days...

He's very average, and they'd have probably done better keeping the likes of Chalobah and RLC as rotational options than signing someone like Drinkwater for £30m.
 

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To be fair he's actually a pretty fine player, the fact he's English, plays for Leicester and has a name you'd expect in Coronation Street probably taints peoples opinion on him. Watching him play he's a hard grafter, decent on the ball and has great vision (check out some of his through balls for Vardy)

If he was called Fernandez/Morvoux/Bratwurstinger and played in Spain/France/Germany some would rave about him being a hidden gem. Guarantee it. Already seeing Liverpool fans wax lyrical about Seri, a few days ago none of them had fecking heard of the guy.
This is often said when not true but I think it has some merit with Drinkwater. 'Rave' might be a bit strong, but he definitely has proper quality. Got some really lovely passing in his locker, especially long and over the top.
 

Raees

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Scott Parker was more talented and he stood no chance of making it at Chelsea.
 

Paxi

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'If he wasn't English' is more of a cliche than the purported idea behind it, these days...

He's very average, and they'd have probably done better keeping the likes of Chalobah and RLC as rotational options than signing someone like Drinkwater for £30m.
I think Leicester won't sell for less than 40. Especially with the window closing soon. Prices go up even further.
 

AshfordLad

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I would be happy for the club to sign Drinkwater as the 4th choice CM. He is not miles behind the likes of Henderson, Delph and Xakha.
 

themoyesboy

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Drinkwater and VVD will put Chelsea bang in contention again. Add in the Ox and they'll finish ahead of us.
 

dogwithabone

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I'm still scratching my head as to how Kante was footballer of the year. Decent, yes, but talk about over hyped. I can see some worth in Drinkwater and he developed a great understanding with Vardy in their title winning season.
 

Hullyback

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Scott Parker was more talented and he stood no chance of making it at Chelsea.
That's probably due more to having Lampard and peak Makelele I'd say, they brought in Robben around that time as well if I remember right and he hardly moved mountains either.

You could make a pretty decent team, or even a whole squad of players Chelsea deemed not good enough. There can't be a team in world football with a worse record for binning quality.
Joe Allen is better, they should sign him.
The Welsh Xavi wouldn't join Chelsea, he's waiting on Barca to come calling :)
 

Kentonio

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That's probably due more to having Lampard and peak Makelele I'd say, they brought in Robben around that time as well if I remember right and he hardly moved mountains either.
Robben was fecking brilliant at Chelsea, and a nailed on starter. We only sold him because he insisted on leaving, one of the very few players in the Roman era we've had who has pressed for a transfer.
 

B20

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he's better than he gets credit for.
 

kouroux

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I'm still scratching my head as to how Kante was footballer of the year. Decent, yes, but talk about over hyped. I can see some worth in Drinkwater and he developed a great understanding with Vardy in their title winning season.
Just listen what all his teammates say about him if you think he's overhyped by the media.
 

forevrared

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Hope we get a decent sell-on fee for him. Given the numbers mentioned, I think we may get more than we did for Michael Keane. It'd make for a nice after-the-fact discount on Matic.
 

roonster09

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He is already on 90K-100K, so he will also get nice pay if he moves to Chelsea. Overall don't think he will improve Chelsea so much for the overall package they will be paying.
 

Hullyback

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Robben was fecking brilliant at Chelsea, and a nailed on starter. We only sold him because he insisted on leaving, one of the very few players in the Roman era we've had who has pressed for a transfer.
I remember him doing a 2015/16 Hazard type sulk at one point and whinging about a lack of respect or support, maybe that's my old age :D

Scott Parker never stood a chance either way with two Chelsea legends in the team. Drinkwater if he signed wouldn't have the same nailed on regulars to contend with, especially after doing the dumbest piece of business in years selling Matic. As a fan yourself can you get your head round he got sold to a rival? Just seems insane.
 

Kentonio

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I remember him doing a 2015/16 Hazard type sulk at one point and whinging about a lack of respect or support, maybe that's my old age :D

Scott Parker never stood a chance either way with two Chelsea legends in the team. Drinkwater if he signed wouldn't have the same nailed on regulars to contend with, especially after doing the dumbest piece of business in years selling Matic. As a fan yourself can you get your head round he got sold to a rival? Just seems insane.
I dislike the selling to a rival thing personally. I also though do respect the club policy of trying to place veteran players with clubs they want to be at, instead of insisting they wont sell to rivals. It's a tough one.
 

dogwithabone

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Just listen what all his teammates say about him if you think he's overhyped by the media.

I don't doubt his worth to the team but I could name you hundreds of footballers of whom their team mates will speak highly of. Kante is popular because he works his nuts off on the pitch and off it is low profile. Basically a nice, smiley bloke who drives a mini, the man in the street can almost begin to relate to a footballer like him.

In my opinion he's average as a footballer in terms of the top echelon of players who play for big clubs. Not remotely in the same class as Pogba for instance. It was astonishing he won footballer of the year and a poor reflection on the performances of others in that particular season. He's limited as a footballer - in my opinion.
 

Devil81

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Lived near me as a kid so I'm glad he's doing so well.

To think he could be the most expensive English midfielder of all time by the time the window closes. Madness!
 

D2Z

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If we werent packed in CM I certainly wouldnt mind him here. Great lad and he is as hardworking as they get. Not as good as Kante in recovering and covering space, but certainly not too far off. He also has great passing range. He is underrated in my very honest opinion.

I wouldnt say he is like Scott Parker at all. I would say he is closer to Herrera.
 

Cascarino

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Think he is being overrated in this thread, he is a very average player imo.
 

Nytram Shakes

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you think 12 months ago Kante and Drinkwater where coming off a season where they where the best midfield pairing in the league..... so i can see why Conte would want him.