Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Leicester face big decision with Man Utd, Chelsea among Premier League throng eyeing Jamie Vardy

Jamie Vardy, Preston North End v Leicester July 2022

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy is reportedly an emerging transfer target for Manchester United, Chelsea and more Premier League clubs.

The 35-year-old has enjoyed a fantastic and – at first unlikely – top-flight career following his move from Fleetwood in 2012. He has gone on to make 270 Premier League outings, scoring 133 goals.

But Vardy could yet bow out of the King Power Stadium after a decade of service. Leicester have yet to make a single signing this summer and need money from sales.

Youri Tielemans, Wesley Fofana and James Maddison all have serious transfer interest from elsewhere in the Premier League.

According to 90min, though, Vardy could also leave Leicester this summer.

The England international’s contract expires next summer and talks over fresh terms have yet to take place.

As a result, Man Utd and Chelsea – who both want to sign a striker this summer – are keeping tabs on his situation.

United have gone after Ajax’s Brazilian star Antony, but the Eredivisie club have reportedly increased his fee after making a number of high-profile sales themselves this summer.

Chelsea let club-record signing Romelu Lukaku return to Inter on loan. And despite signing Vardy’s fellow Englishman Raheem Sterling, boss Thomas Tuchel wants more reinforcements.

The pair believe Vardy, despite his age, can still offer a dangerous goalscoring threat. But 90min adds that ‘a number’ of Premier League clubs are pondering a raid if the chance arises.

Vardy scored 15 Premier League goals last season – eight short of Golden Boot winners Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min – despite missing 13 games of the campaign.

Vardy won the Golden Boot himself in 2019/20 with his own tally of 23 goals. A tally of 24 saw him finish second behind Harry Kane in the 2015/16 season – when Leicester won the league.

The veteran also helped Leicester win the FA Cup in 2021.

Vardy one of several big Leicester decisions

The feeling at Leicester is that this summer transfer window is a big one for the future of the club.

They have a lot of top talents who were injured last season – and whose absences contributed to their drop in form from two fifth-placed finishes in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

When those players come back in and gel, Leicester could once again push for the top six. They finished eighth last season, so the hope is definitely there.

However, the Foxes accept that they must sell to buy. That brings an inherent risk of losing several top stars such as centre-back Fofana and midfielder Maddison.

Vardy is another player about whom Leicester have a big decision to make. He is not a long-term option at 35 and selling him now would prevent the club losing him for free next summer – even if he won’t go for much this time around.

But it is then a question of whether Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho have enough to lead the line next season – or whether Leicester would be better off keeping Vardy for another season.

Daka and Iheanacho only scored a combined nine Premier League goals last season, despite both playing more than Vardy.