‘I offered him a lot of money at the time,’ Wenger discusses missing out on top England striker

One of the most famous transfer stories is Arsenal coming very close to signing Jamie Vardy but ultimately missing out on his signature.

The Gunners are traditionally one of the biggest teams in England and several players dream of playing for them.

Jamie Vardy helped Leicester City to storm to the Premier League title in the 2015/2016 season with other top teams struggling for form.

The striker earned an England call up for his fine form and several top teams wanted to sign him at the time.

Arsenal looked to have stolen a march on his other suitors after he visited them at the Emirates regarding a transfer.

Arsene Wenger was the Gunners’ manager at the time and must have felt like he would surely close the deal.

He was speaking about the episode recently and said he had offered the striker a lot of money to join his team, but Leicester City convinced him to remain with them, probably by offering more than Arsenal.

‘I offered him a lot of money at the time,’ Wenger told beIN Sports.

‘Leicester had just won the championship in 2016, and [Vichai] Srivaddhanaprabha at the time, who unfortunately after had the helicopter accident, did absolutely not want to lose him and they offered him a longer contract and approximately the same money, if not more.’

He added: ‘We had more of the ball, yes, but still around the box, the timings of his runs, he finds the space.

‘When you see the big strikers, they’re on the move when others stand still in the box, and he has that.

‘You see they read (the game) earlier than others, they anticipate better, they understand quicker than other people what’s going on, and (he has) that quality of anticipation, that speed of understanding.’

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Tags Arsene Wenger jamie vardy

3 Comments

    1. Just like any corporate entity

      Managers can only recommend wage according to the budget given

      Any offers thats higher than the budget has to be approved by the CEO or the Director of Football (for some clubs)

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