Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has spoken out on his failed pursuit of the transfer of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy back in 2016.
The Frenchman admits he offered a lot of money to Vardy in an attempt to persuade him to move to the Emirates Stadium, but in the end it sounds like Leicester also offered him a similarly tempting deal to remain at the King Power Stadium.
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Vardy had just won the Premier League title with the Foxes and was starting to show himself to be one of the finest forwards in Europe, and there’s no doubt he could have been a tremendous signing for Arsenal.
The 34-year-old remains a star player for Leicester and Arsenal fans will surely regret that they couldn’t bring this pacey, hard-working, and clinical front-man to north London when he was at his peak.
Wenger was full of praise for Vardy during punditry duty on beIN Sports, as quoted by the Daily Star, and he also spoke about his efforts to sign him a few years ago.
“Phenomenal, he’s always in the game,” Wenger said. “He looks like he doesn’t get mentally out the game. The great strikers I like are convinced somewhere they will score at some stage. That allows them, even when he misses a chance, to stay in the game.”
On trying to sign Vardy, Wenger added: “I offered him a lot of money at the time.
“Leicester had just won the championship in 2016, and Srivaddhanaprabha at the time, who unfortunately after had the helicopter accident, did absolutely not want to lose him and they offered him a longer contract and approximately the same money, if not more.”