Why Vardy’s rejection is a good thing for the Gunners!
So its being reported generally that Jamie Vardy is going to refuse Arsenal’s offer, and that he is 80% sure he will stay at Leicester for the new season.
Of course having Vardy on board would’ve been a boost for the Arsenal squad and there’s no doubt he would’ve made an impact for us. However there are too many concerns surrounding the player, which makes me think that Vardy rejecting Arsenal may not be the worst news we could’ve heard.
Firstly we should focus on his position. Vardy is an out and out striker, a man that can score goals from anywhere. He’s a man with pace, strength and aggression to win the ball and someone who can score a goal out of nothing. He is a striker that Arsenal do desperately need, because ultimately we do need a player who can score 20+ goals a season in the league alone, if we are to be ambitious of winning the league. The issue is that with our playing style of passing the ball around until we have a clear shot on goal, Jamie Vardy just would not fit in. He thrives off long ball passing and counter attacks. Arsenal like to build the play up slowly with plenty of passing before finding their chance. I think this would be too frustrating for Vardy’s character and the aggression that we have seen he can sometimes have, may end up causing him to be on the wrong end of the stick if he gets frustrated with Arsenal’s slow build up.
Secondly is his age. Vardy isn’t getting any younger and at 29 years old, he is arguably in his prime right now for the age of a striker. He had a fantastic campaign last season but there is no guarantee he would be able to replicate such form because as of yet, he has been largely a ‘one season wonder’. This was Vardy’s last chance to arguably make a big impact on the grandest stage of European football and I don’t think that he will be able to get the same opportunity again to move to one of Europe’s biggest clubs in the coming years.
Thirdly is the money. £20 million may be a very good price in today’s current market for a player to break all kinds of records last season and take Leicester to the Premier League title. However for a player who has no guarantee of fitting into Arsenal’s style of play, a player who has only really come to form in one season and a player who will only have a few more years left in his professional career, it raises the question if Wenger should really spend £20 million on Vardy or splash out £10/15 million more on one of the world’s biggest stars.
Lastly is Vardy’s uncertainty if he wants to join Arsenal. Although it is unlikely there will ever be anything that beats his achievements with Leicester during the rest of his professional career, the opportunity to sign with Arsenal or any top European clubs for that matter, probably won’t come along again. His uncertainty with whether he really wants to sign for Arsenal or not, suggests to me that he wouldn’t be entirely committed and therefore Arsenal should start to look elsewhere for their new striker, rather than be left to wait by Jamie Vardy.
Like I said, Vardy would’ve made an impact and he would’ve been supported if he was to join the Gunners. However with it looking more and more unlikely to happen, I for one am not too disappointed to hear that this deal may fall through.
AH