Ex-Man Utd and Chelsea star sold for £35m plans 'bat loft' after getting job as builder

Former Chelsea, Manchester United and Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater has put together an extravagant vision for his £5million Cheshire mansion. The 35-year-old has been putting plans in place for a new-build construction in the footballer hotspot of Alderley Edge.

And getting approval for the sprawling seven-bedroom dwelling has not been without its difficulties. Drinkwater had to make changes to his original plans after decision-makers at the local council hit back over the scale of the proposed building on a plot of green belt land which is a popular roosting location for endangered bats. The ex-England international was eventually given the go-ahead after making alterations to building plans which now include a designated 'bat loft'.

The Sun claim that a 19x13ft room will allow close-quarters viewing of the nocturnal creatures, while the house is also set to include a swimming pool, a gym and a cinema.

Drinkwater may now spend much of his time on building sites but he is clearly not struggling for cash. The Manchester-born ex-player set Chelsea back a whopping £35m in 2017 after winning the league with Leicester, and he spent five years on wages of £100,000 a week.

Rather than move into coaching or punditry, as many retired footballers do, Drinkwater has delved into building and developing properties. And he is not afraid to get involved in the dirty work during his various projects.

Drinkwater received backlash for posting a picture of himself on a building site last year with the caption: "On site today..", with one troll saying he had hit 'rock bottom'. But he responded: "Some of these messages, behave. I love being on site grafting! It's a choice."

After being snapped up by United as a schoolboy, Drinkwater spent a decade in the academy before breaking into senior football, but he never made a first-team appearance for the Red Devils.

A succession of loan spells while on the books at Old Trafford persuaded Leicester to take a chance on him in 2012. After three years with them in the Championship, Drinkwater returned to the top flight with the Foxes before playing a vital role in their remarkable title win in 2015/16.

A disastrous move to Chelsea followed as Drinkwater made just 12 Premier League appearances over the course of his five-year contract. And after failing to resurrect his career across four different loan spells, he decided to call it a day in 2022, aged 32.