Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has established himself as a Premier League legend, but he could have done this at Arsenal.
Vardy helped Leicester achieve promotion to the Premier League in 2014, and his goals kept Leicester in the top flight by a narrow margin.
They then achieved the unthinkable as they won the title in 2015-16 against all the odds and at Arsenal’s expense, with Arsene Wenger’s side finishing in second.
Despite a last-minute winner from Danny Welbeck against Leicester, Arsenal finished 10 points behind the Champions and Wenger wanted extra firepower.
Vardy was outstanding as he scored 24 goals and provided seven assists in the league, and this attracted Arsenal’s interest, as Wenger activated his release clause.
However, a move never materialised, and nearly a decade later, Vardy remains at Leicester and is still scoring in the Premier League, but just how close did he come to joining Arsenal?
Why Arsenal did not sign Jamie Vardy from Leicester in 2016
Wenger activated Vardy’s £22m release clause in the summer of 2016, leaving Vardy with a decision to make as he headed off to Euro 2016 with the England squad.
However, he then announced his intention to stay at Leicester, and did not follow N’Golo Kante out of the exit door at the King Power Stadium.
Speaking after the transfer window shut, Vardy explained why he turned Arsenal down.
“I was in a hotel room [in Chantilly] for so many hours of every day with nothing to do. You had a lot of time on your hands,” he stated of his time at the European Championships.
“I am not going to beat around the bush – every time I thought about it, and every aspect of it I thought about, both my head and my heart were saying to stay at Leicester, which is why I made my decision to stay.
“There were loads of reasons. You get that much time to think about, every single thing down to the tea lady. You think about what might happen, what might not. Where you could be, where not. Every time I thought about every little thing, though, both head and heart were saying ‘you need to stay’.
“I could see people’s point when they assumed I would go, but, deep down, if you don’t think it’s right for you, you don’t do it. It’s as simple as that.
“In my professional life, it was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, but I haven’t been a professional for that long. It was hard, but it was actually an easy decision to make.”
How Arsene Wenger reacted to Jamie Vardy’s rejection
Wenger had accepted that Vardy would not join his side, and later in the transfer window, he splashed out on Deportivo La Coruna striker Lucas Perez.
The Spaniard was hardly given a chance despite a few impressive moments, and he is now back at Depor, alongside former Hale End product Charlie Patino.
Meanwhile, Vardy scored in the Champions League with Leicester, suffered relegation and helped them come back up again, whilst also scoring 11 goals against Arsenal.
Vardy revealed that he encountered Wenger a few times after he rejected his offer, but there was little awkwardness.
“I spoke to him a couple of times in the hotels we were in,” Vardy added.
“Those meetings were either side of me making the decision: it was basically in every hotel we were staying in. It wasn’t awkward, though. It was just a simple ‘Hello, are you OK’… that kind of thing. I took it as a nice compliment they wanted to buy me.”
Vardy will hope that even at his older age, he can still continue to deliver for Leicester. Whilst Arsenal could have benefitted from signing him, Vardy managed to make himself a legend at Leicester, something he might not have been able to do at Arsenal.
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