Touted as one of the greatest strikers ever in the Premier League, with an outstanding and humble personal story to match, Leicester City’s captain and all-time leading goal scorer in the topflight, Jamie Vardy, will explore a plethora of options this summer. He departs the Foxes after 13 seasons of service. Dubbed by the football club on social media as their “greatest ever player”, the 38-year-old registered 143 goals and 47 assists across 338 Premier League games, with a Premier League winners medal, Champions League quarter-final finish and an FA Cup as just some of the honours Vardy has achieved during his time at Leicester. But how did Jamie get to this stage, from factories to the FIFA World Cup, what is next for one of the country’s greatest forwards?
Starting his career at Stocksbridge Park Steels, after being released by boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday, he combined his football working in a prosthetic limbs factory, and after 4 years, scoring 55 goals whilst playing on £30 a week, he earned a £15,000 move to newly founded FC Halifax Town in the Northern Premier League. A prolific season ensued, as he scored 25 goals in 37 games, firing the Shaymen to the Conference North, marking back-to-back promotions since they were re-founded.
Continuing his blistering form, he managed 3 goals in 4 in the club’s debut campaign in the 6th tier, National League outfit Fleetwood Town snapped Vardy up for a nominal ‘undisclosed fee’. The goals kept coming for the now professional, scoring 34 times in 42 games for the Cod Army, helping them achieve a 29-game unbeaten streak alongside a first ever promotion into the Football League. A one-million-pound move to Championship side Leicester followed, and you all know the rest from there. With 10 goal contributions in England’s pinnacle division this season at the time of writing, let’s see where Jamie Vardy might end up next season.
WREXHAM AFC
The club that achieved a third consecutive promotion at the weekend, a feat never done before in the country, also making up a quartet of Welsh football clubs in the English Football League, Wrexham AFC will no doubt be sniffing round the Foxes’ captain to kick off their Championship recruitment. Owned by Hollywood stars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, their significant cash influx has allowed them to boast a roster of extremely notorious forwards, including Jack Marriott, Steven Fletcher, Sam Smith, Jay Rodriguez and finally Paul Mullin, who has scored 110 times in red since his shock arrival from Cambridge United. A no doubt very interesting proposition by one of the most exciting clubs in the pyramid, a lucrative financial package for the ex-England international looks set in stone and could tempt Vardy to make the move over the border. At the time of writing, the bookies have Jamie Vardy’s arrival at the Racecourse Ground at 2/1, perhaps hinting a deal could already be in place.
CHARLOTTE FC
5-year-old MLS franchise Charlotte FC, based in North Carolina, seems the most logical club Jamie Vardy could complete a switch to across the pond, a hotspot for players looking to wind down their careers in the lavish lifestyle in North America. A team which is scattered with Premier League expats, club captain Ashley Westwood played 181 times for Burnley, and is close to a century for new side Charlotte. Former Manchester United and Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha is a new arrival, with Fulham legend and USA International Tim Ream also contracted to ‘The Crown’. However, the main reason for the link is Leicester centred. The manager is former Foxes boss Dean Smith, and his assistant is Leicester icon Christian Fuchs, who was lured to play for the club before his retirement, joining their coaching staff in 2023. Dean Smith speaking to GIVEMESPORT, said that he in fact attempted to sign Jamie last summer, but the prospect of another season in the top-flight meant the proposal didn’t materialise. The link is a sensible one, and a team that already has Premier League experience and Leicester links, a move to the MLS could be comforting for the 38-year-old.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Transfer expert and Journalist Graeme Bailey has said that Sheffield Wednesday is a ‘desired option’ for the former Three Lions this summer and is a very realistic destination for the forward, who supported the Owls growing up. Released by the Yorkshire club at 16, with clubs circling for exciting young German gaffer Danny Rohl, interest maybe halted, but SPORTBIBLE has described the link as a ‘dream’ move for Vardy. Sat in 12th at the time of writing, front man Michael Smith has managed just 8 goals in 40 this campaign, meaning a striker is needed for a potential promotion drive under Danny Rohl, and with the Foxes unable to command a transfer fee, the localized pull of Sheffield could tempt Jamie into a sensational return. A report from Sky Sports, suggested that Vardy is reluctant to move to a second-tier side, believing he still has the capacity to contribute amongst Europe’s elite. But with an unbelievable story, with him and his family growing up in the Hillsborough area, it would be a transfer that would get the blue side of the steel city extremely optimistic about their upcoming campaign in the Sky Bet Championship.
LEEDS UNITED
With a chance to secure a century of points and the Championship title in the lunchtime kick-off this weekend at destined relegation candidates Plymouth Argyle, the exciting young Whites will be completing in the Premier League for the 2025/26 campaign, a dominant factor in Jamie Vardy deciding his next employers. Having scored twice at Elland Road in 10 games as a Leicester player, United will be looking to bolster their options in every department this summer, as an unforgiveable league looks to strangulate their top-flight status which fans up and down the country already predicting for Leeds. However, with exciting wide options in Willy Gnonto, Jayden Bogle, Junior Firpo and Manor Solomon, Jamie is in no danger of finding opportunities in a white shirt in the Premier League and may just be the key component in a bid to achieve Premier League survival next season.
THE SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
An inevitable transfer link for any top-level player in the twilight of their career, one last pay day for Jamie Vardy could be on the cards as he looks to join the list of recipients of the illustrious Arabic financial sport package. A league which has attracted Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar JR, the Saudi League has developed and drove a nation and continent into footballing stardom, as it won the bid to host the 2034 World Cup, the second country in the middle east to do so. As of January 2024, the league recruited 16 players directly from the Premier League, showcasing its clear continuous sight on English Football and its players. Although the laws perhaps may prohibit Vardy’s characteristic party lifestyle, life changing money and a simply stunning and advanced country is a dazzling prospect to anyone and seriously appeals to players of Jamie Vardy’s demographic. With no English managers currently employed in the Saudi League, and a wide range of backgrounds and ability distributed within Saudi Arabia’s top-flight, it’s anyone’s guess which club may look to draft in Vardy to the project, but it’s a safe guess as a potential destination for one of the deadliest strikers this era has ever seen.
Jamie Vardy has epitomised hard work throughout his career, and with all the riches, honours and statistics to boast, his will and drive to continue playing football at the highest level possible is a true testament to his character and sporting legacy. Wherever Jamie ends up next, they’re in for a major treat both on and off the pitch, and it’s going to be a party… bring your vodka…
