2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Peter Smith)
Jamie Vardy has confirmed he is to leave Leicester City this summer after 13 mostly remarkable years that have earned him a place at the club's all-time top table. The striker, now aged 38, is saying goodbye with a Premier League title, an FA Cup triumph and two Championship promotions on his CV - albeit at the end of a relegation season he has blasted as a "total embarrassment". He has scored 198 goals so far, with five more games to add to the 496 appearances he has made for the Foxes.
Yet there was a sliding doors moment back in January 2015, before his career there had taken off so extraordinarily, when Mark Hughes was reportedly trying to sign him for Stoke City. Stoke were looking pretty established in the top flight at that point while Leicester were battling against the drop, Vardy had just turned 28 and the Potters tried to land a deal for about £7.5 million.
Leicester not only said no but they also managed to sign Robert Huth from Stoke, initially on loan but then permanently that summer. By the end of the following campaign they were champions of England. Stoke had a decent strikeforce at the time of the Vardy interest, with Mame Diouf, Peter Crouch, Jon Walters, Marko Arnautovic, Bojan, Victor Moses and Peter Odemwingie.
Hughes didn't sign anyone that January but did bring in Joselu and Xherdan Shaqiri in the following window. Both went on to win the Champions League, although not with Stoke. Mark Robins tried to sign Vardy too - for £2,000.
Robins was Rotherham United manager at the time and tried to bag the forward from Stocksbridge Park Steels. Vardy is not hanging up his boots and it remains to be seen where and in which division he will land next season. He said in a message to supporters: "This isn’t retirement.
I want to keep playing and do what I enjoy doing most: scoring goals. Hopefully there’s one or two more for Leicester between now and the end of the season and many more in the future. I may be 38, but I’ve still got the desire to achieve so much more.
" Vardy had a late career surge having been playing in non-league with Stocksbridge then Halifax Town until 2011, when he spent a season with Fleetwood Town before moving to Leicester in the Championship. Crewe Alexandra twice shied away from buying Vardy, first following a trial and then when they refused to meet Halifax's £100,000 price tag. Dario Gradi told the Sentinel in 2016: "Players like Geoff Thomas, David Platt and Neil Lennon don’t come for free anymore.
One of the last times we tried to buy a player like that it was Vardy and we offered something like £50,000 or £60,000 and they wanted more like £100,000, which we didn’t want to pay. .“Ilkeston wanted £50,000 or something for Che Adams when he went to Sheffield United and we were prepared to pay £30,000 – and he’s done well also.
It’s not £5,000 deals anymore. That market has changed..
. “It was difficult for me to justify £100,000 for a guy who had been in trouble with the police. As it happens he’s turned out to be a good guy by the looks of it.
He’s turned that corner and turned out to be a terrific player.” While you're here, we have launched a new WhatsApp group to deliver the latest Stoke news directly to your phone. Click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in.
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