Skip to main content

Vardy: It Was Easy To Reject Arenal Move

 

 

Jamie Vardy says it was easy for him to reject a move to Arsenal, insisting both his head and his heart told him to stay at Leicester City.

After playing a crucial role in last season's surprising Premier League title win, the England international was the subject of a bid from the Gunners which triggered his £22 million release clause.

Instead, the striker opted to remain at the King Power Stadium and signed a new deal with the Foxes.

And Vardy, 29, says it was an easy decision to make.

“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 told The Guardian.

“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.”

The frontman saw Arsene Wenger a lot during Euro 2016 as they were in the same hotel, both before and after Arsenal's offer was made. But Vardy says he could not pass up the chance to be part of the next chapter in Leicester's journey.

“I spoke to him a couple of times in the hotels we were in,” he said. “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.

“Leicester have been on the rise for a while now and will keep doing that. Look at the deals they did in the transfer window: they obviously want to keep it going. And, if it does keep going, I want to be part of that. I’ve been there from when I was at Fleetwood Town, five years ago, when we were in the Championship and we have gone up and up and up.

“We are a group of brothers and lots of the lads have signed long-term deals now, which the gaffer wanted. To only lose [N’Golo] Kante from a Premier League-winning team is not that bad, so hopefully it will carry on. That is something I want to be part of.”

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Depay: I'm a team player

The Manchester United winger has acknowledged his form is "not very good" at present, but rejected suggestions he is selfish Netherlands winger Memphis Depay has rejected Danny Blind's suggestion that he is not a team player and insists he is working as hard as ever to rediscover his best form. The 21-year-old inspired PSV to the Eredivisie title last season but has struggled to adapt to the Premier League since joining Manchester United for €27.5 million during the summer. Netherlands boss Blind claimed last week that Depay "does not always function for the team" but still included the the forward in his squad for the upcoming friendlies with Wales and Germany. "When I spoke to Danny Blind [after linking up with Netherlands], it was a very good conversation," the Red Devils forward told  NOS . "I think I’m a team player and the other players in the team also think that. “I don’t think I’m in a difficult path of my career, as the media says...
2 comments
Read more

Cristiano Ronaldo 'lives a lonely life'

The producer of a new documentary looking into the life of Cristiano Ronaldo says the footballer leads a lonely life. James Gay-Rees was also behind the award-winning film  Senna , about the Brazilian Formula 1 driver. "He's got a very small group of friends and he surrounds himself with his family," James said. "I think the level of sacrifice required to operate at that level is beyond most of our understanding." The documentary team followed Real Madrid and Portugal player Ronaldo around for a year and James says the thing that surprised him most was how the star deals with his stardom. "It requires a huge amount of dedication and sacrifice," he said. "He has an idea, he wants a legacy, he wants to go down as one of the greatest players of all time. It's a pretty brutal, lonely lifestyle. "I think we all imagined that he just swans around making a lot of money and being Cristiano Ronaldo, but there's a lot of sacr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ronaldo And Messi Stats Shows Who's Best Of All Time

Bests of all time Victory in football's biggest tournament would play a huge role for either player's legacy, particularly in the long-term, and it looks incredibly likely that the 2018 edition will be the final attempt for both men. As a result, there was always going to keen interest in exactly how Ronaldo and Messi fare. And, well, three games in and their form is diametrically opposed. Ronaldo is in the running for the Golden Boot after scoring four goals in his opening two fixtures, including a stunning hat-trick against a hotly fancied Spain team. MESSI VS RONALDO DEBATE Meanwhile, Messi just found the back of the net in Russia only in his last outing vs Nigeria and missed a vital penalty in the 1-1 draw with Iceland. These developments led to a spike in support for Ronaldo to be considered the greatest of all time, with this summer exemplifying his brilliant form over the last few years. BALAGUE HAS SOME ANSWERS One of the most interesting tweets, t...
Post a Comment
Read more