Jamie Vardy is to postpone any decision over whether his future lies at Leicester City or Arsenal until after the summer’s European Championship, effectively complying with Roy Hodgson’s wish for club issues not to distract his players during the tournament.
The England manager has been assured by the striker that his focus is fully on the national team, who start their Euro 2016 campaign against Russia in Marseille on Saturday, as Arsenal wait to discover if he will move to the Emirates Stadium. The London club triggered the £20m release clause in his contract on Friday in the optimistic hope they could complete his transfer over the weekend, only for Vardy to ask for more time to decide.
The national squad duly travelled to Chantilly on Monday with no decision confirmed and, although Hodgson never made any specific personal demands on the 29-year-old to reach a resolution, the manager has made clear to all in the squad that the focus should be on England for the foreseeable future. With that in mind, it is understood Vardy – who had already been granted time off for his wedding, missing the friendly against Australia in the process – has accepted it would be appropriate for him to postpone any formal announcement on his future until after England’s participation at the finals is complete.
Arsenal have been made aware of the situation, though the state of limbo poses a dilemma for Arsène Wenger, who must choose whether to wait on an answer from his principal target potentially for up to another month or to pursue other options in the market. The Arsenal manager is acutely aware the player could choose to remain with the Premier League champions, or that other offers might even materialise from rival clubs encouraged by the forward’s performances at the European Championship. An alternative target, the Spain striker Alvaro Morata, is expected to move to Chelsea, albeit via a complicated deal via Real Madrid, in a transfer that could be worth up to £40m.
Wenger was asked about Vardy’s involvement with England in an interview with beIN Sport on Tuesday and suggested he expects the striker to begin the tournament on the bench. “I don’t think that he will be a starter,” said Wenger. “He has earned a place in the squad. I don’t say this because he does not have the quality, but because he doesn’t have enough experience at that level to say the whole tournament will depend on Vardy.
“Football progresses always, the offence creates a new problem, the defence responds. What has happened in the last 10 years is the strikers have become quicker and quicker. What’s happened? The defence have responded by creating quicker and quicker defenders. So now, when you put strikers on the pitch who are slow you have a problem, so pace will be needed.”
Even in the wake of Arsenal’s offer, Leicester have never given up hope of holding on to Vardy. He signed an improved three-and-a-half-year contract in February – albeit with that release clause written into the deal – and is seen as a key part of their plans. The player also has a close relationship with Leicester’s Thai owners, as well as with Claudio Ranieri, the manager, who has telephoned him to ask him to stay at the club.
There is a collective desire on the hierarchy’s part to keep the title-winning team together for one more season at least. Both Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante are expected to attract interest from elsewhere this summer though those bids, too, will be resisted. To that end, the club could yet offer Vardy another new contract to remain at the King Power stadium, with new terms aimed at deflecting Arsenal’s interest, after he scored 24 goals as the team claimed the title last month.
The player could, however, also be forgiven for thinking last season was as good as it will ever get at Leicester, even if there is the promise of Champions League football to come when the new campaign gets underway in August. Yet the decision will now have to wait, with Hodgson having made c
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