CHELSEA are back in pre-season training and Blues outcast Danny Drinkwater was also involved in the session.
The forgotten man spent the second half of last season on loan at Kasimpasa but is back in London fighting for his future despite not playing for Chelsea for three years.
Drinkwater joined several of Chelsea’s returning loan army at Cobham.
Blues laid on sessions for those players who were not involved with their international teams this summer.
Kepa and Tammy Abraham led a warm up run around the Blues’ training ground.
Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva were the other notable high profile first-teamers present.
Marcos Alonso and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were also part of the group.
Drinkwater, 31, played 11 times for Turkish outfit Kasimpasa after joining on loan in January in a bid to revive his career.
He didn’t score or assist any goals and is unlikely to feature in Chelsea’s squad once the Premier League has started and Thomas Tuchel has his full quota of players available.
Drinkwater – who has not played a competitive Chelsea game since 2018 – recently said he hopes to rediscover his love for football and thinks he can break into the Blues’ first team.
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The midfielder joined Chelsea a year after winning the Premier League with Leicester but the £35million switch has not gone to plan.
Drinkwater has only made 23 appearances for Chelsea, almost all of which came under Antonio Conte in an injury-hit debut season.
LOAN ARMY RETURN
The Blues welcomed back 15 of their loan army at the beginning of this month.
Young defenders Matt Miazga, 25, and Jake Clarke-Salter, 23, are back after spells with Anderlecht and Birmingham City respectively – with both having just one more year on their contracts.
Malang Sarr also arrives, having joined Porto immediately after being signed by the Blues on a free transfer last summer.
Davide Zappacosta, 29, was once a £24million signing for the Blues, but hasn’t played for Chelsea in over two years, following Reece James’ emergence.
The Italian still has another year remaining on his deal and is likely to head back to Serie A, having had loan spells at Roma and Genoa over the last two seasons.
Ghanaian international Baba Rahman looked out of his depth when he joined Chelsea in 2015 as a 21-year-old – playing 23 games before being shipped out on five loan spells.
The left-back also has a year remaining on his current deal, having spent last season with PAOK in Greece.
Of the 15, Ethan Ampadu has possibly the best chance of forcing his way into the Chelsea first-team picture, having previously shown signs of promise for the Blues, as well as while playing for Wales.
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