‘It was unreal’: Danny Drinkwater names the best midfielder he ever played with at Chelsea and Leicester City

It’s fair to say that Danny Drinkwater enjoyed a better time with Leicester City than he did once he made his big money move to Chelsea.

In total, Drinkwater only made 23 appearances for Chelsea despite being under contract at the club for five years.

The England international made the switch to Stamford Bridge a year after Leicester’s incredible Premier League win in 2015/16, and it was meant to be the platform for the midfielder to take his career one step further.

However, Drinkwater struggled for minutes and chances in west London and went on loan to all of Burnley, Aston Villa, Kasimpasa and Reading before leaving in 2022.

Drinkwater regrets his time at Villa, comments he made shortly after he retired from football a few years ago.

Danny Drinkwater explains why N’Golo Kante was ‘unreal’ to play with

That being said, Drinkwater has now been reflecting on his career on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast, ‘Rio Presents’.

And at one point of the interview the former Leicester midfielder was asked about N’Golo Kante who was his midfield partner when he won the title at the King Power Stadium.

Of course, Kante was also then at Chelsea with the Englishman, the player Drinkwater considers as the best he has ever played alongside. 

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Speaking about Kante, Drinkwater said: “He’s almost everywhere but without being where you need him kind of thing, if that makes sense?

“Say in like a flat two, a 4-4-2, you’re always working on ups and downs with your partner, ones attacking and ones defending.

“He would do everything, so if I was looking to receive the ball of the centre-back, he’s probably there on the other side and then if I’m looking to get forward he’s already caught me up from receiving the ball himself.

“It’s hard to put into words how good he was, especially for that team that year, it was unreal what he did.”

Ferdinand then asked: “Is he the best partner you played with?”

Drinkwater: “Yeah as a central midfield partnership, one hundred percent, yeah.”

Who does N’Golo Kante play for now?

Of course, 33-year-old Kante is still playing football with Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League.

Kante left Chelsea for Saudi Arabia in 2023 and has now made 68 appearances for Al-Ittihad, scoring an impressive seven goals.

And remarkably so, that actually eclipses the 40 games that Kante played at Leicester, a short but unforgettable stay under Claudio Ranieri.

James Maddison named Kante as the toughest midfielder to face recently, someone he didn’t actually play alongside at Leicester.

Maddison arrived at the King Power perhaps as a result of Kante being sold, the first bit of investment Leicester made after their title-win.