Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester City this summer after 13 years at the club, but he has no plans to retire from football.
A statement on lcfc.com read: “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.”
The 38-year-old has made 496 appearances since joining Leicester from Fleetwood Town in 2012, winning the Premier League in 2016 before reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 2016-17 and winning the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2021.
He scored 18 goals as the Foxes were crowned Championship winners last season, but has only managed seven in the Premier League this term.
Leicester’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday confirmed their immediate return to the second tier, meaning they have been relegated from the Premier League in two of the past three seasons.
Leicester chairman 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.”
‘Vardy epitomises loyalty and longevity’
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate:
There are some wonderful players in English football right now but how many can claim to be the greatest in their club’s history? Jamie Vardy was a symbol of Leicester’s title triumph of 2016, scoring 24 Premier League goals, but he represented so much more.
N’Golo Kante was outstanding but he had not been part of the team promoted from the Championship. Riyad Mahrez had but by 2018 he had gone too. Vardy not only stayed but won the Golden Boot in 2020 and was part of the team that won the FA Cup in 2021.
Vardy just seemed to keep going and going, even scoring 18 goals in lifting the club back up from the Championship last year. What began as a Cinderella story became a tale of loyalty and longevity too, still leading the line for Leicester at 38, still rustling opponents.
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Following the news that Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester City this summer after 13 seasons at the club, watch some of his greatest-ever wind-up celebs in the Premier League over the years.
Those antagonistic celebrations aggravated supporters of other clubs, and there have been unsavoury moments away from the pitch too. But there was a reason for Vardy’s popularity, why he was cheered on with England at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.
His story resonated because Vardy brought a raw enthusiasm to the pitch that is rarely seen at Premier League level. It was as if he had come directly from Stocksbridge Park Steels, the Northern Premier League team that he was still playing for at the age of 23.
That extraordinary pace, those finishes fired low into the corner, and the guile that he added to his game, marked him out as something special. Only Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane have scored more Premier League goals than Vardy over the past decade.
A season too far? Maybe. But Vardy has escaped much of the criticism for Leicester’s plight this season. Plenty would have gladly seen him continue, believing he could still deliver in the second tier. The point is moot now. He leaves as a legend. And a one-off.