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Premier League winner Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester after 13 seasons at the end of the current campaign, the Foxes have announced.
The 38-year-old England striker, a key member of the team which lifted the title against the odds in 2016, will depart with almost 500 appearances for the club to his name in the wake of a relegation he has described as ‘such a s*** show’.
A statement on City’s official website said: ‘We can confirm legendary striker Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester City this summer after 13 seasons that have seen him become our greatest-ever player.’
Explaining his decision to call time on a record breaking career with the Foxes, Vardy said: ‘I have been here so long that I truly thought it would never end.
‘This has not only been really difficult for me to write but also a really difficult decision to make. Leicester City has been my second home, my extended family, my life for 13 years.
‘The club, the city, the people, means so much to me and my family.’
Despite his own personal struggles with form and fitness, Vardy insists he is not yet ready to hang up his boots and will seek a new club this summer when he will become a free agent.
Jamie Vardy is a true 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 almost seen as a bonus for strikers whose roles now are now almost more about movement and technique than finding the back of the net, Vardy represented, and to an extent still does, even though his powers are waning, a refreshing throwback.
At his peak, he was a constant menace for defenders who were terrified of his pace and goalkeepers who were often rendered redundant objects as a consequence of his ice cool finishing ability.
Vardy’s loyalty to Leicester was also part of his charm given he could have left the Foxes on more than one occasion, most notably in the immediate aftermath of their 2016 heroics when Arsene Wenger was desperate to bring him to Arsenal.
He was not without his flaws, but that was all part of the charm and the Premier League, not to mention English football if his next challenge is to be abroad, will be poorer without him.
James Goldman | Metro Sports Editor
‘I want to keep playing and doing what I enjoy doing most, scoring goals,’ he confirmed. ‘Hopefully there is one or two more for Leicester between now and the end of the season, and many more in the future.
‘I might be 38 but I’ve still got the desire and ambition to achieve so much 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.
Leicester’s chair, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, said: ‘Jamie is unique. He is a special player and an even more special person.
‘He holds a place in the hearts of everyone connected to Leicester City, and he certainly has my deepest respect and affection.
‘I am endlessly grateful for everything he has given to this football club.’