Many fans, pundits, journalists, managers and players have had their say on the Jamie Vardy to Arsenal transfer saga and although it doesn’t look too promising for the Gunners at the moment, there is still a chance that a deal could be pulled off.
Debates are ongoing with whether Vardy would be a good signing for the Gunners and whilst many don’t seem too excited about the idea of Vardy in an Arsenal shirt, one ex-player who doesn’t think he should leave Leicester, is the striker Emile Heskey. Now Heskey hasn’t just come out of the blue here to comment on this transfer rumour, the Englishman did of course make that move from Leciester to Liverpool (then a top four club) back in 2000. Heskey reckons that although the move was good for him at 22 years old, he doesn’t think things would quite work out the same way for Vardy, who at 29, only has a few years left at the highest level of European football.
Heskey told the Daily Star: “I think he should stay. He’s at the age where he could really set a legacy at Leicester. Sign a four or five year deal at Leicester and really be a Leicester legend. He’s won the Premier League now, is he gonna win the league at Arsenal? At the end of the day he’s a legend at Leicester, he’s loved in the city – he loves the city as well.
I was 22 at the time, I went through two cup finals with Leicester and the play-offs final – in essence I thought that was as far as we were gonna go as a squad. And I chose to move because I wanted to win more – so that was my reason behind that. Looking at it I thought that was as far as Leicester could go but then they go and win the league!”
Quite frankly all this waiting around for Vardy to make a decision is growing tiresome and I think Arsenal should step up and ask Vardy to make his final decision, otherwise we’ll look elsewhere. Arsenal are having to stall their transfer plans for other potential strikers whilst we await a decision from Vardy and although the club doesn’t want to rush the player into a decision, there comes a point where we need to turn our attention elsewhere.
Personally I’m not necessarily excited about the prospect of having Vardy at Arsenal and so by all means I agree with Heskey in saying that he should stay at Leicester and continue his legacy there. However from an independent point of view, away from being an Arsenal fan, what Heskey said does make a lot of sense and it could be the reason for why Vardy is unsure if he should leave Leciester for Arsenal.
Vardy will be a legend at the club if he stays beyond this summer and continues the form and glory that he brought to Leicester last season. He may have left a legacy with the Foxes already, but if he leaves them this summer for Arsenal, I doubt he’ll be considered a Leicester legend. In addition to that, he’s already won the Premier League and he has done so in a spectacular manner, so he isn’t going to beat that glory with Arsenal? As for the Champions League, although you’d expect Arsenal to have a better chance of winning the competition on paper, does Vardy really consider Arsenal’s chances of Champions League glory at a much higher chance than Leicester’s?
Let’s be honest with ourselves here, it is a difficult decision for Vardy to make and honestly I expect him to stay at Leicester this summer. He will of course miss out on that big money move to a top four club that would see out his career, but he has the chance to stay as a legend of the club that are current Premier League champions. Can you really blame him for mulling over a decision for so long?
By AH