Thirteen years ago, Jamie Vardy arrived at Leicester City from non-league Fleetwood Town with more drive than polish. On Thursday, the 38-year-old striker confirmed he will leave the club at the end of the season, closing a chapter that defied footballing logic and gave Leicester fans the unlikeliest of fairy tales.
He exits with 198 goals in 496 appearances, a Premier League title, an FA Cup, and a place in football lore few ever imagined. But this is not retirement. “I might be 38 but I’ve still got the desire and ambition to achieve so much more,” Vardy said. His next move is unknown, though interest from Major League Soccer and even Wrexham has surfaced.
The end of an era for Leicester and Vardy
Vardy’s departure marks more than just the end of a player’s time at a club. It severs Leicester’s last living link to the 2016 title team, a group that climbed from the brink of relegation to the pinnacle of English football. “This has not only been really difficult for me to write but also a really difficult decision to make,” Vardy told fans. “Leicester City has been my second home, my extended family, my life for 13 years.”
His departure comes at a low ebb. Relegation was confirmed with five games to play, and the club sits 19th with just 18 points from 33 matches under Ruud van Nistelrooy. Amid the disarray, Vardy, now the club’s leading scorer this season with eight goals, offered fans an apology. “This season has been a total embarrassment.”
But any final act in a career like his cannot erase what came before: the consecutive goal record broken in 2015, the Golden Boot at 33, or his scorching volley against Liverpool during the title run. Jürgen Klopp once said of Vardy, “The only way I know to defend him is to make sure he does not get the pass he wants.”
Whether his final game is at home against Ipswich or away to Bournemouth a week later, Vardy’s legacy is untouchable. As club chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha put it, “Jamie is unique. He holds a place in the hearts of everyone connected to Leicester City.”
There may be more goals ahead for Jamie Vardy. But at Leicester, he has already scored his masterpiece.
