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Former Leicester City and Chelsea FC midfielder, Danny Drinkwater has announced his decision to retire from active football aged 33.<\/p>\n
The Englishman has been without a club since July 2022 when he part ways with Chelsea FC.<\/p>\n
Drinkwater announced on Monday, October 30, 2023; \u201d I\u2019d just like to announce my retirement from professional football.<\/p>\n
\u201d I didn\u2019t think it would bother me but saying it then it\u2019s almost like scratching a nerve a bit.<\/p>\n
,\u2019I think I\u2019ve been ready for it, not stopping at my peak and it\u2019s simmered down a bit, that\u2019s helped the transition.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think I\u2019ve been in limbo for too long, I\u2019ve either been wanting to play but not getting the opportunities to play at a level where I felt valued.<\/p>\n
\u2018I just thought I\u2019m restless here for no reason, I\u2019m happy not playing football, but I\u2019m happy playing football, so do I just shake hands with the sport?<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s all I\u2019ve known, it\u2019s been my life since I was six or seven, it was never going to be an easy thing.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think the way it\u2019s died down has definitely helped. If I was playing week in, week out and had to stop through injury or age I think it would be trickier.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ve had quite a few offers from Championship clubs, but I never felt the burn, it did nothing for me.\u2019<\/p>\n
At the start of his career, Drinkwater came through the academy Manchester United academy but didn\u2019t make a senior appearance for Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s side amid loan spells to Huddersfield, Cardiff, Watford and Barnsley.<\/p>\n
But his career took off when he signed for Leicester in 2012, helping them win promotion into the Premier League in 2014.<\/p>\n
Drinkwater played a prominent part in Leicester\u2019s miraculous Premier League title success under Claudio Ranieri in 2015-16, featuring in 35 of their 38 league games.<\/p>\n
In March 2016, he won the first of three England caps in a friendly match against the Netherlands at Wembley but didn\u2019t make Roy Hodgson\u2019s squad for that year\u2019s European Championship.<\/p>\n
He played one more season at Leicester before Chelsea signed him for \u00a335million. However, he was never to play a prominent part there, his cause not helped by injuries.<\/p>\n
After 22 appearances in his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge, Drinkwater went on various loan spells to Burnley, Aston Villa, Turkish club Kasimpasa and Reading in the Championship.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n