Danny Drinkwater issues another response to trolls claiming he's 'hit rock bottom' after retiring from football

Danny Drinkwater has issued another response to those who mocked his unusual choice of work following his retirement from football.

The former Leicester City and Chelsea midfielder, 34, announced his retirement from the professional game last year after being without a club for two years.

Former England international Drinkwater, who played three times for his country, was released by Chelsea in 2022 after struggling for form and fitness.

He earned £120,000 per week at Chelsea after signing from Leicester in 2017 but made only 23 senior appearances in five years at the club, spending time out on loan at Burnley, Aston Villa, Turkish club Kasimpasa and Reading before his departure.

Drinkwater received a number of offers from Championship clubs after being let go by Chelsea but decided to call time on his professional career after falling out of love with the game.

In an exclusive interview with SPORTbible, Drinkwater opened up on the difficulties he faced in the latter years of his career.

"Football has given me some absolutely great years. It's also given me some sh*** times but the good years definitely outweigh the bad," said Drinkwater, who famously won the Premier League title with Leicester in the 2015/16 season alongside the likes of Jamie Vardy and N'Golo Kante.

"I was able to buy my mum and dad the dream bungalow. I've been able to take care of my family so am I going to sit here and say football is sh**? No chance.

"Has it been ideal for me and my position now? 100 per cent. Was it a dream as a kid? 100 per cent."

He added: "The last three years have been the toughest in regards to football but I'm not going to sit here and complain."

In that interview, Drinkwater also opened up about his projects away from the game, which include renovating a number of properties around his hometown, Manchester.

Drinkwater responded to his critics on Instagram (Image: Instagram/DannyDrinkwater)

The former midfielder takes an active role in the rebuilding process and recently posted an image of himself working on a site to Instagram, attracting negative comments from some critics.

After posting a picture of himself with the caption: "On site today", one Instagram user responding by saying: "F***** h*** Danny you've hit rock bottom [crying face emoji]."

To which Drinkwater swiftly replied: "Some of these messages, behave. I love being on site grafting. It's a choice."

He has now posted a second response to his critics, proving he has absolutely no regrets about his new career.

In a video posted to his Instagram story, Drinkwater showed himself travelling in the front of a van with two fellow workers on a lunch break from the building site.

"Come on lads in the white van," he shouted at the camera.

"F***ing lunch run, come on! Wey!"