Chelsea needs to pull off a magic trick to move Danny Drinkwater

Chelsea seems to have decided to move Danny Drinkwater on. They will need to perform the same magic trick they fell for to move him elsewhere.

There was a moment after Leicester City won the Premier League where many believed Danny Drinkwater was the closest thing England had to Cesc Fabregas. Of course, that was in an era where the English National Team was still what everyone expected them to be: boring and stock full of okay Premier League players.

The following season where Leicester City struggled did not seem to deter belief in Drinkwater. Leicester pulled off a great magic trick by convincing Chelsea that all Drinkwater needed to be great again was N’Golo Kante. And the Blues fell for it.

Drinkwater then spent much of his first season at Chelsea injured. When he did play, he was okay but little more than that. But it was Maurizio Sarri’s complete write off of Drinkwater that really showed the full cost of the Englishman. He had come in for a sizable fee and big wages and then he sat an entire season. Right or wrong, it left Chelsea where they are now: in need of some magic of their own to move Drinkwater on.

Drinkwater does have interest from Premier League clubs, namely Norwich and Brighton. Both are very much relegation candidates and looking for whatever edge they can get. Chelsea could easily move Drinkwater on to them, but there will be unsavory issues attached to it for the Blues.

First, Chelsea needs to rid themselves of the thought that they will be able to sell Drinkwater for the same price they bought him. The board has been pulling off moves like that in surprising ways (see: Alvaro Morata), but no one is paying what Chelsea paid for Drinkwater after nearly two full seasons on the side line.

That leads into the second piece. No one will pay Drinkwater the same wages he made at Chelsea. That alone seemingly scuttles any sort of transfer notion since Drinkwater seems content to sit and collect his wages. The likeliest scenario at this point is Chelsea loans Drinkwater but has to pay a substantial part of his wage.

But regardless, Chelsea will need to pull off the same trick Leicester City did two years ago: convincing others that Drinkwater is well worth it. That will be hard to do when his previous two years have been barely anything but it is the only option for Chelsea. They need to convince the Norwich’s and the Brighton’s of the Premier League that Drinkwater is the type of player that will save them from relegation.

It will be a tough ask, but an easier one than breaking even on the transfer or loaning him out without having to pay any part of the wages. He has shown in preseason that he at least did not deserve to be frozen out last season.

With the window closing in England shortly, Chelsea needs to dig deep to make a move happen. The Blues will not go broke over Drinkwater sitting on the bench for another year (not that he would if he did happen to stay), but they will be eager to move on from the move. All it takes is some of the magic they fell for when they bought him in the first place.