A FORMER England star hit back at a troll after sharing a photo of himself at a building site.
Danny Drinkwater, 34, has been out of the game for two years after leaving Reading at the end of the 2021-22 season.
The former made midfielder played for England three times and retired in 2022[/caption]He has kept busy through other lines of work since retiring but lost £782,000 from a failed restaurant business.
Drinkwater then bought a 70 per cent share in another Manchester nightclub, Firefly, which closed its doors last month after unsuccessful lease renewal negotiations with their landlord.
Now he is working on a building site and shared a photo from his day of labouring on Instagram.
He revealed he got plenty of derisory comments, including one that read: “F***ing hell Danny you’ve hit rock bottom”
Drinkwater hit back at the trolls, writing: “Some of these messages, behave.
“I love being on site grafting! It’s a choice.”
Drinkwater has been open about his past mental health struggles after he career took a downward turn following his £35million move to Chelsea.
The midfielder won the Premier League with Leicester in 2016 but made just 23 appearances for Blues across four years, which included several unsuccessful loan spells.
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Speaking of his mental health struggles, Drinkwater said: “It was the darkest I’d felt.
“It was like I was drowning and had forgotten how to swim.
“Anyone who thinks earning good money will solve all of your problems is not true at all.
“Mental health is more important than physical. It was the darkest I’d ever felt.”
The 34-year-old began his career at Manchester United but failed to make a single first-team appearance before eventually being sold to Leicester.
He decided to retire after a nightmare spell at Chelsea, but did win three England caps along the way.