Drinkwater on Turkey trot

DANNY DRINKWATER’S fall from grace took another step just as Chelsea are preparing to face the club where he made his name.

The former Leicester midfielder agreed a loan move until the end of the season to Kasimpasa, just above Super Lig’s drop zone in Turkey.

Less than five years ago he was one of the driving forces behind Leicester’s unlikely title win and 12 months later arrived at Chelsea in a £35million transfer.

But he played just

23 games for the London club, the last in the 2018 Community

Shield, and his career nosedived in forgettable loans at Burnley and Aston Villa. Drinkwater, 30, pleaded guilty to drink-driving after crashing his Range Rover and was injured in a fight outside a nightclub.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard was tight-lipped when asked if he still had a future at Chelsea. Lampard said: “It’s important Danny thinks in the short term. “Go and play games because that will paint a picture of how we move forward. There has been some difficult circumstances for Danny – some he takes responsibility for, some are not right on both sides. So let’s try to look forward.”

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers is being touted to replace Lampard if he cannot pick Chelsea up.

But Lampard said: “We have seen big clubs and managers questioned within weeks of a couple of results this year.

“That is the modern world. I am not crying about this.” Drinkwater, left, signs for Kasimpasa and, right, lifting the title with Leicester