DON’T LET THIS DEAL TRIP US UP
Vardy speculation worries Roy
ENGLAND’S arrival in Chantilly was like a scene from the Belvoir Hunt and for Jamie Vardy it seemed appropriate. His pursuers are dressed in red, after all.
But Roy Hodgson will be more relaxed about five glamorous women on horseback, here yesterday to escort his squad to the doors of their opulent hotel, than he will the timing of Arsenal’s move for the Footballer of the Year.
It is an unwelcome distraction for an England manager who wants his players focused only on Saturday’s opening European Championship encounter with Russia, because it is sure to be unsettling Vardy at his first major tournament.
The release clauses in his contract at Leicester have sparked a race for his signature and while Arsenal lead the pursuit, others have also been hovering.
Yesterday David Sullivan said West Ham had considered a move only to be scared off by what the club chairman described as ‘potty’ numbers. .
For Vardy the decision is a huge one. There is the pull of remaining with that remarkable Leicester team as they embark on a most unexpected Champions League adventure. Or the chance to join one of the most powerful clubs in Europe and work under the guidance of a manager of the stature of Arsene Wenger.
Money, of course, is a major consideration, too, but Vardy is going to be significantly richer come what may. Last night there was a suggestion Leicester had gone close to matching Arsenal’s offer of £120,000 a week, no doubt guaranteeing a further round of frantic calls and another sleepless night. The turmoil the situation might be causing to one of his players will concern Hodgson, even if this is not unfamiliar territory for the FA. Steven Gerrard blamed his poor form at Euro 2004 on a mind conflicted by his loyalty towards Liverpool against the draw of being signed for £50million by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. Indeed, Rafa Benitez’s visit to the team hotel in Lisbon — for what ultimately pproved a successful bid to persuade Gerrard to stay at Anfield — led to a change in ppolicy at the FA tthat put a stop to visits from agents and club officials at the team base during tournaments. Hodgson has been here before tootoo. Ahead of the last World Cup he maintained the ban on agents from the team hotel, but, aware there were other obvious lines of communication into his players, made certain allowances in the build-up to Brazil 2014. During a seven-day training camp in Miami he let players have club medicals, if only to have a group of players with as few distractions as possible. Now that England are in France, however, Hodgson is feeling less accommodating. Not least because he is so determined to make his third tournament as England manager a successful one. Only last week Hodgson touched on the subject of possible player transfers. ‘ The one thing this group of players know and have accepted is that when you are on England duty, you are on England duty,’ he said. ‘It is not a question of you sorting out your future, or diving off for medicals.
‘ We are not trying to block players’ futures or transfers, but as far as we are concerned, our ongoing theme is that England is England, your club is your club. While you are with England we want you to stay focused on us.’
He wanted Vardy’s situation resolved before his players boarded their flight to France yesterday morning and it will frustrate him that the matter is ongoing, particularly when he has already been generous enough during the build-up to let Vardy disappear for a couple of days to get married. The mood at the FA was certainly less than sympathetic yesterday with that in mind, not to mention the fact that there was a three-day window after Thursday night’s friendly against Portugal when Vardy could have made a decision one way or the other.
If Vardy does need more time to reach that point, and clear his mind for the international commitments ahead, he will have to ask Hodgson personally. But Hodgson will be less than amused when that first game is only a few days away and the pressure is now on.
What he wants are players committed only to the England cause. ‘One team, one dream’ reads the slogan on the official team bus and England minds have to be clear for the challenge ahead.
Compare Vardy, for instance, to Jordan Henderson. He spent his three days off working out in the gym, his only objective to walk into the England training complex for that first session on French soil last night and prove to Hodgson and his staff that he is fit and ready for Russia.
That is the kind of player Hodgson needs. Not a 29-year-old forward tormented by a decision that could have a major impact on a career that has been so late to blossom.