Jamie Vardy to follow Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante by leaving Leicester in the future – and fancies a move abroad
Foxes star happy to stay at King Power for now but admits he'd like to test himself in a new country at some point
JAMIE VARDY wants to follow Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante out of Leicester one day.
Yet while the former Foxes stars have headed for the bright lights and big bucks of Stamford Bridge, Vardy sees his future somewhere very different.
The England striker has shunned moves to Arsenal and Chelsea as he wants to play abroad. But when asked where, 30-year-old Vardy laughed and said: “Where the food is nicest.”
Drinkwater — who completed his £35million move to Chelsea on transfer deadline day last week — and Kante return to the King Power on Saturday as the only players from the club’s title-winning team of 2016 to have left.
Vardy was being talked about as a target for Atletico Madrid last year and harbours a desire to test his skills overseas.
He said: “Will Leicester be the last team I play for? I’m only 21 at heart. I’ve still got 14 years left! Who knows what can happen. I’ve spoken about it with my agent before.
“A move abroad, who knows. That would be something I’d probably like to experience. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
“It could be anything really . . . just so I can get a different culture, a different experience, as I’ve only ever been in England.”
You have to hand it to Vardy — he has been loyal to the club that shot him to stardom. As well as Kante and Drinkwater jumping ship, Riyad Mahrez put in a transfer request this summer.
The Algerian winger had been linked with Chelsea and Roma but nothing serious materialised during the transfer window.
Vardy added: “To have only lost two players from that squad shows you what the club is about and what the owners are like. They want to keep everything together and want us to keep progressing.
“To only lose two of the players that won the league, I don’t think you can complain about that.”
It is ironic that 27-year-old midfielder Drinkwater could make his Blues debut at Leicester’s home.
Vardy said: “It’s a strange one for him, coming straight back. But fair play to Danny on getting the move he wanted. He made it known he wanted to leave. I’m sure the club got the right deal, too.
"We spoke about it up until the international break but while I was away with England, I didn’t see anything happening until it popped up on Sky Sports News on deadline day just before I went to bed.”
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Although he believes Drinkwater is good enough to play in Chelsea’s midfield, Vardy believes he may have to accept he is no longer going to be one of the first names on the team-sheet, like he was at Leicester.
He admitted: “Chelsea are full of world-class players. Danny is up there himself but it depends on the formation their manager will play.
“They signed Tiemoue Bakayoko, so Danny has a lot of competition.”
Vardy admits that while Kante was a big loss when he moved to the Bridge, Leicester have the best replacement in Wilfred Ndidi.
He said: “N’Golo is a great player. He kept us ticking, always getting the ball back. But we’ve also got players slightly different to him who are just as good. They just needed a bit of time to bed in.
“Wilfred was a quality signing and is like N’Golo — he’s a lot taller too.”
Vardy is also sure Mahrez will still be putting in 100 per cent for Leicester, despite making public his desire to leave.
Mahrez had egg on his face after leaving Algeria’s training camp on deadline day, all ready to make a big-money move.
Vardy, who played the final 17 minutes of the Three Lions’ 2-0 win over Malta last Friday, added: “I heard he didn’t travel or something — he went to Europe on a holiday.
“It’s up to him. It’s been reported he wants a winter move instead.
“If that’s the case, he’ll be wanting to perform to put himself out there.”
It does not surprise Vardy that Chelsea swooped for Kante and Drinkwater — and been linked with himself and Mahrez.
He said: “It shows we have some good players if Chelsea want to nick them all.”
And Vardy insists Chelsea — just like Leicester last season — will find it tough to defend their title.
He added: “It’s always hard. There are so many teams that can win the Premier League.
“We showed anything can happen. Look at your top-six teams and they’ve all been spending this summer.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion who will win it. Everyone is challenging.”
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Vardy is happy with Leicester’s summer transfer business and reckons the club can have a real go at finishing in a European spot.
Harry Maguire, Vincent Iborra, Kelechi Iheanacho and Eldin Jakupovic have all been added to the squad for a combined £57.3m. Vardy said: “Everyone has had a taste of Europe so we want to be challenging as high up the table as we can.”
The star was speaking at the premiere of a Sky documentary series The Next Jamie Vardy, which starts on Sky 1 next Saturday at 11.30am.
This new six-part docu-series charts the progress of a number of young non-league hopefuls who want to progress into the pro game — just like the Leicester star.
Vardy, who founded the V9 Academy to discover non-league talent, said: “There’s massive talent out there and I hope this documentary has demonstrated that, by putting the spotlight on players trying to find a way to the top. There are more hidden gems to be found outside the Football League.
“V9 will do all it can to help players realise their dream of playing professional football for club and country.”