Chelsea Sign Drinkwater from Leicester City
Chelsea
wrapped up a late move for Leicester midfielder Danny Drinkwater at the end of
a nerve-jangling Deadline Day.
It is
understood the fee is £35m, while Leicester are confident they have completed
the signing of Adrien Silva from Sporting Lisbon before the deadline for a fee
believed to be £22m.
Negotiations
with Chelsea rumbled on as the clock ticked down on Thursday night with the
Premier League champions falling short of the Foxes' valuation of the England
international.
Drinkwater
was holed up at Chelsea's training ground in Cobham as he awaited news of
discussions between the two clubs.
The deal
seemed to depend on Leicester attempting to sign Silva and at 1:30am both clubs
confirmed that Drinkwater had sealed a move on a five-year deal for a
club-record fee.
Drinkwater
told Chelsea's website: 'I'm delighted to be a Chelsea player and can't wait to
get started. It has been a long journey to get here but I am very happy and am
looking forward to helping the club win more trophies."
He
becomes Chelsea's sixth senior signing of the summer following the arrivals of
Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alvaro Morata and Davide
Zappacosta.
Silva was
given permission to leave Portugal's training camp to undergo a medical and
negotiate the final parts of the potential Leicester deal.
Leicester
saw a bid of £25m rejected by Sporting Lisbon last year for Silva, who has been
capped 20 times by Portugal and was a member of the starting XI when they beat
France in the Euro 2016 final.
Leicester
officials are awaiting formal confirmation from the FA and Premier League that
the deal went through correctly.
Drinkwater,
27, joined the Foxes from Manchester United in January 2012 and went on to make
217 appearances for the club in a period that saw him play key roles both
Championship and Premier League-winning campaigns.
A club
statement read: "Leicester City wishes to express its gratitude to Danny
for his contribution to the team's achievements over the past five years, as he
leaves with the best wishes of everyone at the club."
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