Jamie Vardy says that Arsenal tried to sign him after seeing him win the Premier League with Leicester City.
The now 37-year-old has shown a wealth of commitment to the Foxes after joining from Fleetwood Town in 2012, enjoying the highs and lows of competitive football with the Midlands outfit over the last 12 years. Vardy was a part of the Leicester side that achieved promotion to the Premier League in the 2013/14 campaign, largely thanks to his 16 goals in 37 games.
The 2015/16 campaign, meanwhile, was a Cinderella story for Vardy, with Leicester City stunning the world by winning the Premier League. And after achieving such success, Arsenal began sniffing around Vardy – only for the Sheffield-born striker to politely decline.
Speaking to BT Sport, he explained: “Every time I thought about it, my heart and head were coming to the same answer, which was to stay. That was exactly what I wanted to do so it’s exactly what I did. I had a lot of time while I was sat in a hotel doing nothing, so it was easy to think about it then and easy to put the pen to paper.”
It is reported that the Gunners offered the Sheffield-born star a whopping £120,000 per week to play at the Emirates Stadium under Arsene Wenger, but his heart wouldn’t let him stray from Leicester. Under the guidance of Claudio Ranieri, the Foxes finished ten points clear of Arsenal with 81 points in 2015/16 – despite finishing 14th the year before.
Vardy also claimed a Player of the Season trophy award the 2015/16 campaign, before becoming the league’s oldest-ever Golden Boot winner in 2019/20 at the age of 33 years and 197 days thanks to his tally of 23 goals. While the striker has enjoyed a wealth of highs with his club, he has also experienced lows like being relegated to the Championship in 2022/23 after finishing 18th.
Rather than parting ways to remain in the English top flight, Vardy stuck with the club which he has given most of his career to. And showing no signs of slowing down despite being closer to 40 than 30, Vardy netted 20 goals in the 2023/24 season to achieve promotion for City, and is currently reliving his glory days in the Premier League.
At the time of writing, the striker has scored twice in the current campaign – finding the back of the net against Spurs in their seasonal opener, before scoring in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace earlier this month. However, Vardy’s commitment to the Foxes has not been echoed by a number of his Premier League-winning teammates, who were quick to part ways with the club when bigger teams came along.
Chelsea swiped N’Golo Kante for a reported £32million in the summer of 2016, while the Blues also signed Danny Drinkwater for £35million the following year. Ben Chilwell also made a move to Stamford Bridge in 2020, signing the dotted line for £50million – while Riyad Mahrez chose to don Manchester City blue under Pep Guardiola in a £60million move in 2018. Still looking for their first win of the 2024/25 campaign, Leicester City sit at 15th in the Premier League at the time of writing, and face a tough test in Arsenal come Saturday afternoon.
