10 years of a Fantastic Mr Fox

From non-league to Prem League and FA Cup winner... amazing journey of Jamie Vardy

JAMIE VARDY has been hailed as one of the Premier League greats as he celebrates the 10th anniversary of signing for Leicester.

It is exactly a decade ago today that Vardy started one of football’s most incredible journeys that led him all the way to the Premier League title (below).

And Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers reckons the 35-year-old rates as one of the biggest bargains of all time at just £1million.

Rodgers said: “He’s a real icon, not just here at Leicester, but also the League. When you consider he came into professional football at 25, and was 27 before he scored his first Premier League goal, it really is an amazing journey.

“He is truly a unique player. To go from playing in FA Cup qualifying games to actually winning the FA Cup (left) is astonishing.” Vardy went on to play for England and Rodgers says he would not put it beyond the scoring machine to clock up 150 Premier League goals.

He is on 132 and showing no signs of slowing up, according to his Leicester boss, whose side visit Chelsea tomorrow and then on Sunday face Southampton at home in their final match of the season.

Rodgers said: “His pace is still there as is his cuteness and his bravery. Jamie’s a guy who’s constantly proving a point.

“You can see the hunger and drive in him. He’s so instinctive and still shows the courage, timing and speed to get those goals.

“Fingers crossed, he can stay fit to the end of the season, have a good break and then we’ll get him back to a really high level in pre-season. He’s still got so much to offer.

“He’s been an absolutely great signing for this club. He is a ‘great’ of this club but, not only that, I’d put

him up there with the Premier League’s best-ever strikers.” Vardy blasted onto the national stage as the red-hot striker who banged in 24 goals to shoot the Foxes to an unlikely title victory in 2016.

Claudio Ranieri (inset) and his men, rated 5,000-1 outsiders before a ball had been kicked, provided one of the biggest fairy-tale sports stories of all time as they marched to Premier League immortality and won the League by 10 points.

Along the way, Vardy plundered a record which still stands to this day – scoring in 11 consecutive League games. Rodgers paid tribute to former boss Nigel Pearson, who backed his hunch that Vardy could do it at a much higher level by shattering the record for a non-League player with a £1m cheque.

“Jamie was a great signing for this club. Nigel deserves great credit for that,” added Rodgers. “Paying £1m is an absolute bargain when you look back at it 10 years later.”