If anyone would ever try to make Leicester’s championship season into a movie, it should feature a scene where Jamie Vardy rejects an offer from Arsenal to stay with the Foxes. Even though, it happened post-season and technically has nothing to do with the road to winning the title, but in reality, you can’t help but wonder if his decision was right.
By now you can be sure that Leicester won’t be a national title contender this year, but they still can put on a good display of their skill in Champions League. If Vardy’s true intention was to further raise his transfer price, which I doubt, European stages can certainly draw more attention to him. Gunners also play in Europe, but over there he wouldn’t be their “only hope”.
If Leicester’s forward manages to recreate our amazement with something like his record-breaking consecutive scoring games, then there will be offers, but if this season will be less eventful for Vardy, he’s likely to remain with Foxes for the rest of his career. The most evident point that it would be latter, not only because Vardy is going to be marked much tighter this season, but also because games against reigning champions are always played with a little extra effort.
That brings us back to our initial question – was Vardy right to stay on lower pay, lower chances to win more trophies, but with a guaranteed starting position and undying love and admiration of local fans? I think his decision has a lot to do with his own comfort. New team, new partners, new scheme, it all takes time to adjust, and there’s always a chance that you won’t find yourself in the new environment.
There was one more concern that stopped him from moving to London. His place in the England National team is not yet concrete, so the possibility of having less playing time for a new club was definitely taken into account. At Vardy’s age, you can’t afford to get out of the National team manager’s sight for too long, so I would totally agree if that was his reasoning for staying.
What future holds for Jamie Vardy in Leicester? I hope that reality won’t be too harsh on him after last season’s fairytale. I’m not trying to belittle him in any way. I know that he got to the level where he is now through hard work and talent. Two years ago, when Foxes finished 14th he scored 5 times in 34 games played. I think this year is going to be somewhat average of those 5 goals and last year’s 24, making his total around a decent 15 goals this season.
Thanks to that offer from Gunners Vardy got a raise from his team, and he seems content with his decision, saying that it was easy for him to decline. All we can do as mere spectators – trust his judgment and admire his loyalty to the club that made him into a star player.