I’ve been dreaming of Vardy coming to Arsenal – The best we could get…

Jamie Vardy Deserves his Arsenal Chance by Uche

Hello folks. Exciting times are here again for Arsenal and this time, Wenger is aiming to make up for lost time after years of minimal spending. First was Granit Xhaka and now Jamie Vardy? Reliable sources also have it that we have triggered the release clause of Swiss left back Ricardo Rodriguez. This is all mind spinning news …. or so I thought. Not long after the Vardy news broke, critics started to pan it for all sorts of reasons.

Some say he is from lowly Leicester and a one season wonder. Others say he will not fit into arsenal and only knows how to play on the counter. Others have a problem with his age and predict a sharp decline from now onwards. These negative reactions have literarily left me speechless. In fact I can feel a few flies stuck in my throat cause my mouth has been hanging open for hours in disbelief. Some people actually think Jamie Vardy is a bad idea? As opposed to what exactly? Robert Lewandowski? Really? I don’t know what is more pathetic. Looking down on a solid striker like Jamie Vardy or thinking that Robert Lewandowski will actually leave Bayern Munich, snub Real Madrid and join Arsenal. Sure. Because the best players want to play in Arsenal even when Madrid, Bayern and Barca are there for the choosing.

Ever since Vardy started banging in goal after goal last season, I have dreamt of him in an Arsenal shirt. I am still pinching myself and I cannot believe that in less than 48 hours, we could be announcing his capture on Arsenal.com. I don’t know the Vardy you see when you watch him play, but I will tell you about the Vardy I see and I suspect that is the one Wenger sees as well. Jamie Vardy is an experienced, EPL proven, battle hardened animal of a striker who has earned his place amongst football’s elite. He is ruthless, fearless, scrappy and energetic like Alexis Sanchez. Vardy is a striker who will chase down lost causes and shoot on site from any angle with pretty accurate shorts. He can score with his left foot, right foot and head. He is a consistent goal threat who has scored against small teams and big teams, loose defenses and tight defenses. When the pressure of doing the impossible began to weigh on his shoulders, Jamie Vardy rose to the occasion where most Arsenal players would usually crumble. He scrapped it from the first game to the 38th game of the league and won. That is right, Jamie Vardy is an EPL champion and deservedly so. That is the Jamie Vardy I know.

So he is going to be 30. So what? Sometimes you get them young and at other times, you get them in their prime. What does it matter? We cannot always get players with sell on value. We have that with the Wilsheres, Ramseys and Oxlade Chamberlains. Ibrahimovic is 34 and Cristiano Ronaldo just turned 30. Who wouldn’t want these aging players in their team? Man Utd just signed Ibra on a one year deal and Real Madrid has offered Ronaldo a new contract. Ibra just won Ligue Un for the third season in a row scoring a ton of goals and Ronaldo just won the biggest of them all. The Champions league. Yet both players are on the wrong side of 30.

The age argument is a valid one but in the world of sport, you have got to also admit that sometimes the best players are like fine wine. They get better with age. Pirlo, Di Natale, Ibrahimovic and Maldini all testify to this. Yes Vardy is a gamble but a gamble worth taking. I wish he were 23 but a 23 year old Vardy would not have caught our eye or even gotten Wenger to spend a million pounds on him. He is 29 now and in the form of his life. Now is the time to get him. If he can give us two good seasons, that is money well spent. Vardy has a lanky frame with boundless energy. I don’t see him losing his energy and form anytime soon, and when he has got Mesut Ozil creating chance after chance for him, why wouldn’t he be banging them in?

Besides, who is to say that we will not be signing 23 year old Morata as well, if and when Madrid buys him back from Juve? Nobody knows what Wenger is thinking. Giroud is on the wrong side of thirty so clearly the boss must be on the lookout for a young forward too. The rumour is that we have had a bid on Madrid’s table for Morata for quite some time now. So if the boss is hell bent on buying two strikers after years of putting up with Giroud, why not the experienced Vardy and someone else? One for now and one for later.

Arsenal fans should be excited. Jamie Vardy is a very good player. Is he a one season wonder? I don’t know but I am willing to take that chance rather than wait on Benzema all through the summer -and be disappointed yet again. We all know that Madrid will not sell Benzema unless they get Lewandowski and Bayern will not let Lewandowski go at any price. Who in his right mind will sell Lewa? Vardy is what we can get at the moment and he is pretty damn good for the role. Is he a cunning cheat who dives to get a penalty, yes he is but guess what? We need such street streak in our ranks. Enough of the good boys.

Arsenal players are too similar. We need a thug of a striker for a change and Vardy ticks all the boxes. Be happy guys. This is a good thing. Happy weekend. Peace.

Uche Edochie
Lagos – Nigeria