Leicester City bids farewell to club legend Jamie Vardy. The striker is leaving the club after 13 years and a title for the ages.
Leicester City described Jamie Vardy as “the greatest player in our history” in a club statement on Thursday, officially announcing the striker’s departure after 13 years with the club. Vardy’s contract expires at the end of the season, and in talks recently confirmed by manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, both parties have now agreed to part ways. The 38-year-old striker had been the face of the club since joining the Foxes in 2012 from fifth-tier Fleetwood Town for a transfer fee of just £1 million (approximately €1.2 million).
Champion, cup winner, top scorer
In the 2015/16 season, Vardy sensationally fired the underdogs to the Premier League title, before being voted Player of the Season and England’s Footballer of the Year. In Leicester, the fifth-division player who had been rejected by Sheffield Wednesday’s youth academy and had even given up playing football at one point became one of the top strikers in what is arguably the strongest league in the world and eventually an England international. In 2020, he was the Premier League’s top scorer, and in 2021 he won the FA Cup with the Foxes.
Vardy himself announced his departure from Leicester in a video on his social media channels. “I’ve been here so long that I never thought it would come to an end,” said the striker. However, despite his advanced age, he does not want to end his career yet: “I may be 38, but I have the desire and ambition to achieve much more.” Where he will do so has not yet been decided.
“Jamie is unique,” Leicester CEO Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha is quoted as saying. “He is a special player and an even more special person. He has a place in the hearts of everyone connected with Leicester City, and he certainly has my deepest respect and affection. I am eternally grateful for everything he has done for this football club.”
However, even Vardy was unable to prevent Leicester’s relegation from the Premier League. He has scored seven goals in 31 appearances so far this season, but has been in a slump for the past three months – both at Leicester and individually. Vardy has not scored since the 2-1 win over Tottenham at the end of January, and Leicester have picked up just one point in that time, meaning their relegation to the Championship was confirmed following Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool. Vardy described the season as “nothing short of miserable and a total embarrassment for me personally” in a statement after the game.
Vardy is set to make his official farewell in front of his home fans on May 18 in the last home game of the current season against Ipswich Town.
