Leicester News: Jamie Vardy refuses to say how he'll deal with Chelsea's Danny Drinkwater

JAMIE VARDY has already seen one of his England team-mates land in trouble for dodgy hand signals this week so he is not going to reveal if he has anything planned to welcome Danny Drinkwater back to the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

00:00, Thu, Sep 7, 2017 | UPDATED: 00:14, Thu, Sep 7, 2017

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Leicester star Jamie Vardy played a huge part in the Foxes' shock Premier League triumph

England midfielder Drinkwater became the latest of Leicester’s 2016 title-winning team to be lured away to Chelsea on transfer deadline day last week when he completed a last-minute £35 million switch to Stamford Bridge.

Drinkwater was following his fellow midfielder N’Golo Kante, who departed the Foxes straight after their title win to join the Blues in a £30m deal and promptly became a key figure in their Premier League triumph in May.

Even though he signed a four-year deal worth £100,000 at Leicester in the summer of 2016, Vardy has revealed that his next move as a player is not likely to be Chelsea – though they were linked to him this summer – but abroad, where Atletico Madrid are among the clubs who fancy him.

The Leicester striker, who scored 16 goals last season, watched from the bench on Monday night as England beat Slovakia 2-1 at Wembley when Tottenham forward Dele Alli made a crude one-fingered gesture he says to team-mate Kyle Walker.

Ironically for Drinkwater, his first outing in a Chelsea shirt is likely to be, of all places, at Leicester on Saturday with the midfielder now fit after a groin injury.

But hand signals between the old pals?

We spoke about the move up until the internationals but while I’m away with England, you don’t see anything happening until it pops up on the television on deadline day
Leicester star Jamie Vardy

Vardy joked: “We’ll have to wait and see for that.

“I will have to think of something. I’m not going to tell anyone, because then FIFA will know!

“It’s a strange one for Danny, coming straight back. He made it known that he wanted to leave. I’m sure the club got the deal they wanted, and now he’s gone.

“We spoke about the move up until the internationals but while I’m away with England, you don’t see anything happening until it pops up on the television on deadline day. I wished him all the best, and I look forward to seeing him on Saturday.

“Will he fit in at Chelsea? It depends. They’re full of world-class players. Danny is up there himself but it depends on the formation their manager plays. They signed Tiemoue Bakayoko, so Danny has a lot of competition for his place.”

Vardy was speaking at the London premiere of the documentary “The Next Jamie Vardy” about his career and his V9 Academy, which will be screened on Sky 1 and Sky Sports.

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The fact Chelsea keep raiding Leicester for players, Vardy believes, underlines what a good side that 2015-16 title-winning team led by Claudio Ranieri was.

“It obviously shows that we have some good players if they want to nick them all,” said Vardy. “Fair play to Danny. It’s what he wanted. He wanted to move, so good luck to him... but not on Saturday.

“The fact that we have kept so many 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.”

Vardy was linked to Chelsea and Riyad Mahrez to Arsenal but both are still there: “I think the Chelsea thing was just rumours, weren’t they? My agent never said anything to me.

“As for Riyad, I heard he went to Europe on a holiday. It’s up to him now. People were saying he wanted a winter move instead. If that’s the case he will be wanting to perform and knuckle down to put himself out there.”

As for Alli, Vardy thinks a FIFA ban would be harsh.

“Definitely,” he said. “If Dele is getting reprimanded for that, then we might as well take emotion and enjoyment out of the game. Everyone has to have a bit of banter, otherwise you would not get through the day. It’s harmless.”