Leicester City have announced that their legendary forward Jamie Vardy will leave the club at the end of the season. The 38-year-old has written his name into the history books at the King Power Stadium as an instrumental part of the Foxes astonishing 2015/16 Premier League title win.
Vardy has spent an incredible 13 seasons at Leicester City since signing for them from Fleetwood Town in 2012. Since then, the striker has made 498 appearances for Leicester and scored 198 goals, establishing himself as the third highest goal scorer in the club’s history.
Along with the Premier League trophy, Vardy also got his hands on an FA Cup, Community Shield and two Championship titles. In a club statement, Leicester have hailed Vardy as their "greatest ever player," and it's hard to argue with that.
While bidding an emotional farewell in a video to his fans, Vardy said, “I've been here so long that I truly never thought it would end, so this has not only been really difficult for me to write but also a really difficult decision to make."
"Leicester City has been my second home and my extended family, and my life for 13 years. The club, the city, the people mean so much to me and my family. It's a place that has shaped the lives of our kids who have been so lucky to call Leicester home for so long. But for me, the time has come to say goodbye."
Though Vardy is leaving Leicester City, he insists that he has no plans to retire just yet.
"This isn't retirement. I want to keep playing and doing what I enjoy most: Scoring goals. Hopefully, there are a few more for Leicester between now and the end of the season and many more in the future. I might be 38, but I still have the desire and ambition to achieve so much more."
Jamie Vardy Premier League stats: Appearances, goals and records for the Foxes legend
During his stay with Leicester City so far, Vardy has made 338 Premier League appearances, scoring 143 goals and managing 47 assists. His most prolific goal-scoring season came during the 2015-16 Premier League season when he scored in 11 consecutive top-flight games, beating Ruud van Nistelrooy's previous record of ten.
That season, Vardy managed 24 goals and 7 assists in the Premier League while forming an incredible partnership with Riyad Mahrez, which led Leicester City to the title. To put that into context, Leicester were 5000-1 outsiders heading into the season.
While Vardy has never been able to replicate those heights since then, he will forever be remembered for having played a starring role in the biggest fairytale story of the Premier League era.
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