'Shambles' - Aston Villa flop Danny Drinkwater opens up on loan struggles
Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive brings what Danny Drinkwater has said about his time on loan with Chelsea as the former Leicester City man reflects on his career
Former Aston Villa loanee Danny Drinkwater is determined to reignite his career.
Drinkwater is on loan at Reading from Chelsea, signing for Veljko Paunovic's side last month and helped his new side to a shock 2-1 win at Fulham on Saturday.
Reading is Drinkwater's fourth loan spell away from Chelsea, who he joined in 2017 from Leicester City for around £35 million.
Drinkwater was reunited with N'Golo Kante from his time at City and was the latest player from the 2015-16 Premier League title winners at the King Power Stadium to leave when he signed for Chelsea just over four years ago.
Looking to get his career back on track, Drinkwater was signed by Villa in January as Dean Smith's side looked to avoid an immediate relegation to the Championship.
Drinkwater played 79 minutes on debut against Manchester City in a 6-1 mauling by Pep Guardiola's side at Villa Park and only appeared three more times before his loan ended.
He did not stay past the June 30 cut-off date with the season extended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Drinkwater, 31, is out of contract at the end of the season and has also spent time at Burnley and Turkish side Kasimpasa.
"Can I paint a picture? No. It's been a shambles," Drinkwater told radio station talkSPORT.
"It’s football, it’s never straightforward, it's never simple. I’m just excited for the new challenges.
"I need to (kickstart my career). I’m more excited about this than I have been for a few years now, especially how my career’s panned out.
"Games, getting the enjoyment of football back, then going from there. A few have slid away, I’ve made mistakes, I’ve not played.
"I’m in the last year of my contract, so there’s more than just football riding on it. I’ve got other things."
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