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Southampton: Saints to make January move for Drinkwater?

By Marc Walker

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 05: Danny Drinkwater of Chelsea looks dejected following his side's defeat during the FA Community Shield between Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 5, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 05: Danny Drinkwater of Chelsea looks dejected following his side's defeat during the FA Community Shield between Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 5, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Southampton have again been linked with a move for Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater with the player reportedly frustrated with his lack of game-time.

According to the Daily Express, both the Saints and Leicester City will look to end the England international’s unhappy spell at Stamford Bridge with a move for his services in January.

A move for the 28-year-old to St Mary’s was rumoured back in July, whilst it was so believed that his old club Leicester made a summer loan offer but couldn’t agree a deal.

Drinkwater left the King Power Stadium in 2017 for a fee of around £35m after playing a big part in the Foxes league title win in the 2015/16 season.

23 appearances have come for him in a Chelsea shirt so far, with many of those off the substitutes bench. He has had just 30 minutes of first-team football in this campaign too so far in the Community Shield.

Next. 10 Saints players jetting off on international duty. dark

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 16: Danny Drinkwater of Chelsea during The Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Chelsea and Hull City at Stamford Bridge on February 16, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 16: Danny Drinkwater of Chelsea during The Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Chelsea and Hull City at Stamford Bridge on February 16, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

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He appears to be well down the pecking order in Mauricio Sarri’s squad, with N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to compete against.

After coming through the ranks at Manchester United and forging a career at Leicester, Drinkwater received deserved recognition from his country and made his first appearances for England.

He has three caps to his name so far and will be wanting to have regular first-team football again soon if he is to get himself back in the reckoning at international level.

The Central-Midfield area is also the most competitive area of Southampton’s squad. Oriol Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Mario Lemina, James Ward-Prowse, Stuart Armstrong and Steven Davis already provide a healthy range of options for Mark Hughes.

Both Hojbjerg and Lemina proved particularly impressive in the side’s recent 2-0 over Crystal Palace. Armstrong was also added to the team this summer to provide a significant goal threat from the centre of the pitch.

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