Well we all knew that something was up when Jamie Vardy didn’t immediately jump at the chance to join Arsenal, and asked for more time to decide his future. Now he is camped up with the England team, but obviously he can’t stop himself considering Arsenal’s offer and Leicester’s counter-offer.
Well according to the London Standard, Vardy has been talking to sources within the England camp and they have told the paper that he is 80% settled on returning to the King Power Stadium next season. Here is how the Standard described it: …. it is believed that as things stand, he is more likely to stay at King Power Stadium and sign a new contract with Leicester worth around £100,000 a week, which still represents a £20,000-per-week rise on the deal he signed in February.
Wenger has not given up hope of luring Vardy to north London but is fearful that despite acting quickly in an attempt to tie up a deal, the prospect of continuing Leicester’s fairytale in the Champions League next season is too great to resist.
It is also understood that Vardy may have doubts as to whether he would be a first-team regular at Arsenal given the presence of Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, while Danny Welbeck will return in the New Year.
Vardy would continue to start every game at Leicester, which also carries the additional benefit of giving him maximum game time to help prolong his international career, but he is still tempted by the obvious step up to one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Oh well I can’t say that I’m surprised. The 29 year-old is a big fish in a small pond at Leicester, and now that he has recently got married to Becky (and they have an 18 month old baby plus three older kids), he may be loathe to create a big upheaval in their lives.
It is not as easy signing players as just meeting the buyout clause. Vardy actually needs to want to move. Obviously he doesn’t….
Time to move on to Morata I think!
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