Jamie Vardy to go away Leicester City after incredible 13-year profession

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Premier League winner Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester after 13 seasons at the tip of the present campaign, the Foxes have announced.

The 38-year-old England striker, a key member of the team which lifted the title against the percentages in 2016, will depart with almost 500 appearances for the club to his name within the wake of a relegation he has described as ‘such a s*** show’.

An announcement on City’s official website said: ‘We are able to confirm legendary striker Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester City this summer after 13 seasons which have seen him develop into our greatest-ever player.’

Explaining his decision to call time on a record breaking profession with the Foxes, Vardy said: ‘I even have been here so long that I actually thought it might never end.

‘This has not only been really difficult for me to put in writing but in addition a extremely difficult decision to make. Leicester City has been my second home, my clan, my life for 13 years.

‘The club, town, the people, means a lot to me and my family.’

Despite his own personal struggles with form and fitness, Vardy insists he isn’t yet able to hang up his boots and can seek a brand new club this summer when he’ll develop into a free agent.

Jamie Vardy was a part of the Leicester City side that won the FA Cup for the primary time of their history back in 2021 (Picture: Getty)

Jamie Vardy is a real Premier League legend

Given their extensive scouting networks and the resource top clubs put into their youth recruitment now, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see a story like Vardy’s again.

Plucked from almost total obscurity by Leicester, Vardy rose through the ranks and transformed himself from a wayward lower league forward into an elite Premier League striker.

In an era where goalscoring is nearly seen as a bonus for strikers whose roles now are actually almost more about movement and technique than finding the back of the online, Vardy represented, and to an extent still does, regardless that his powers are waning, a refreshing throwback.

At his peak, he was a relentless menace for defenders who were afraid of his pace and goalkeepers who were often rendered redundant objects as a consequence of his ice cool ending ability.

Vardy’s loyalty to Leicester was also a part of his charm given he could have left the Foxes on a couple of occasion, most notably within the immediate aftermath of their 2016 heroics when Arsene Wenger was eager to bring him to Arsenal.

He was not without his flaws, but that was all a part of the charm and the Premier League, not to say English football if his next challenge is to be abroad, might be poorer without him.

James Goldman | Metro Sports Editor

‘I would like to maintain playing and doing what I enjoy doing most, scoring goals,’ he confirmed. ‘Hopefully there’s one or two more for Leicester between now and the tip of the season, and lots of more in the long run.

‘I is perhaps 38 but I’ve still got the need and ambition to attain so rather more.’

Vardy will go down as a Premier League great, having scored 143 goals — placing him No.15 on the competition’s all-time list — and once netted in a record 11 straight games in Leicester’s improbable title-winning campaign. The team won the league at preseason odds of 5,000-1.