Danny
Drinkwater can expect a hostile reception if he makes his Chelsea debut at
Leicester on Saturday, says former team-mate Marc Albrighton.
Chelsea completed a £35m Deadline Day deal to lure Drinkwater from the King
Power Stadium, meaning the Blues could line up with Leicester's Premier
League winning midfield when the sides meet this weekend.
Ex-Leicester player N'Golo Kante was the first to make the move to Stamford
Bridge, and Albrighton predicts a tough first day for Drinkwater in Chelsea
colours when he returns to the Foxes' den.
"It will be strange for us, but it'll be stranger for him," Albrighton told
Sky Sports News. "To play in front of the fans that he played for, for so
many years, but once the whistle goes, it's business as usual.
"I'm sure he'll be professional and do the best he can. He might get stick
for 90 minutes, but barring that I'm sure the Leicester fans will be
fantastic with him.
"He's achieved some tremendous things, that no one thought this club could
achieve in this era, and he's been a huge part of that, from getting them
out of the Championship, to winning the Premier League, to Champions League
football."
Kante and Drinkwater's two-man centre-midfield partnership was lauded in
Leicester's 2015-16 title winning campaign, with their reunion at Chelsea
potentially offering Antonio Conte a new option in his preferred 3-4-3
formation.
Albrighton believes that Chelsea midfield would prove very difficult for any
team to stop.
"I think they're certainly up there," he said. "Manchester United have got a
strong midfield but with Drinkwater and N'Golo in there it's going to take
some stopping and there won't be many that overrun that.
"They're great individuals, but when they're playing together, how they
compliment each other is fantastic."
Leicester did manage to hold onto another key component of their
title-winning side, Riyad Mahrez, despite a protracted transfer saga, but
Albrighton admitted losing another of his Foxes "brothers", Drinkwater, is
difficult to take.
"What we achieved as a squad, as a team, will automatically bring you closer
together as brothers and when one of those goes, it's difficult," Albrighton
added.
"But we've got the money for him - obviously the club are happy with that
otherwise they wouldn't let him go."
And Albrighton insists Mahrez remains unchanged in his commitment to
Leicester, even though a transfer elsewhere did not materialise.
"If it wasn't for the media, talking about his whereabouts and saying that
he wanted to leave, you wouldn't know," he said.
"There's been no tantrums, no sulking, he's just carried on doing what he
does best, which is being a fantastic footballer, and it's great the club
have kept him."
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