The £1m gamble that just keeps on giving...
YEARS OF JAMIE VARDY
TEN years ago today, Leicester City set a record. They became the first club to buy a non-league player for a million pounds.
When Jamie Vardy had his introductory pictures taken at the King Power Stadium – the striker wearing a hoodie from the club shop as City were between kits deals at the time – few could have imagined the heights he and the team would reach. A decade on, his transfer is considered one of the best gambles in football history, his story considered one of the best tales in football history.
Even at 35 years old, he arrives into the final week of the Premier League season with the best goals per game record of any player to feature this term.
His success is in part because of who he is and the journey he has been on, but also because of his evolution over the past decade.
Ten years ago, Vardy was a player who hared around the pitch, chasing any lost cause and always at risk of a red card as a result.
He would chase from side to side and dive into challenges to try to stop defenders clearing their lines.
On the ball, he would run with it, straight at defenders, knocking it and sprinting after it, knowing he had the pace to win the race. It was not complicated, and it’s a style that has been a part of Vardy’s reputation ever since.
But the reason he is still performing at the top level now is because he is different.
He is craftier in the box, his movements more subtle. He conserves energy by slinking around the box, waiting for his time to strike. His choice and quality of finishing has sky-rocketed. Michael Owen could not say he is not a natural finisher now.
This past week, and his four goals in two games, have shown he is still as, if not more, important than he was during his early days at the club.
Manager Brendan Rodgers said: “He’s a real icon of Leicester and of the league. His journey, coming into professional football at 25, scoring his first Premier League goal at 27, 10 GLORIOUS and then to go on to score the goals he has and make the impact he has, he truly is such a unique player.
“Jamie’s story, from playing in qualification games in the FA Cup to winning the FA Cup, winning the Premier League, playing in the Champions League. He really is a great of this football club. I also think in the Premier League, he’s up there with the top strikers.
“Thankfully, you see over these past few games, he’s getting his fitness. He hasn’t played as much as we would have liked, but you see the impact he would have had on our team because the pace is still there, the cuteness, the cleverness, the bravery is still very much there.
“He’s clearly a great signing for the club back then, for Nigel (Pearson) and the people behind it, that took him. £1 million is an absolute bargain when you look 10 years later.”