Leicester City's Archetype
A failure, a misfire, the worst striker. These are concepts that will for Leicester City be entirely wound up in the impact of our legendary forward, Jamie Vardy. His influence was not merely his impressive 200 goals over 500 games; he ushered in an era defined by his archetype. A gravity to stretch and split defences, a vertical and explosive use of space to create chances, and a low-touch, high-scoring composure on the ball. His style became the organisational principle of all on-pitch play and off-pitch recruitment.
The purpose of this article, then, is not to analyse forwards in a vacuum, but to understand them as elements in an experiment to support, replace, or offer variety on the mobile poacher archetype. This is defined by the stylistic fit to that role, their statistical efficiency (using FBRef stats), tactical integration, and a narrative impact. Ultimately, we will explore how Patson Daka, despite being the most aligned statistically and stylistically, became one of our most unsuccessful attempts.
Leicester City's Jame Vardy Benchmark
The talismanic forward's post-2020 seasons exhibited a gradual evolution from the raw pace and explosive power of a dominating striker, towards a sustained positional and finishing intelligence. This allowed Vardy to maintain non-penalty xG/90 figures between 0.30 and 0.36, even when going between the Premier League and Championship. His per-90 pressures (the number of pressures applied to the opposition) remained high between 13-17 per 90. More critical to how Brendan Rodgers had the King Power club set up was the directionality of the pressure, with angular runs forcing opposition build-up to Ricardo Pereira touchline traps to cause transitions.
Even as the player aged, his shot profile (the map of where his shots were taken from) remained efficient. Approximately two-thirds of his attempts originated in the central penalty zone, often one-touch finishes. This garnered a high goal-to-touch ratio consistently above average in the division: this was the mark of his low-touch but high-volume poacher style.
Vardy's influence at Leicester is both emotional and tactically transformative. From trophies to symbolic performances in the EFL Championship and his farewell goal, this English striker created an identity which defined the very system and recruitment of the Foxes. No replacement could thrive unless they replicated, supported or went above the defining identity: verticality, chaos, efficiency, and pressing intelligence. This is what the others are judged against.
Islam Slimani: A bygone relic of a Target-man past
Islam Slimani's brief return in the 2020-21 campaign was the last echo of the pre-Vardy recruitment. A target-man striker: static, positioned centrally in the box, with an aerial and possessive dominance. Historically, Slimani had strong xG/90 (between 0.45-0.55 in his Sporting CP peak), but he began to chronically underperform expectations at Leicester City. The Foxes needed efficiency in that season, but he offered none, so he featured little.
Statistically, he did not live up to expectations. Stylistically, he did not fit the Vardy-era system. Slimani offered neither replacement, support, nor even a tactical variation of sufficient quality to occasionally build a system around. The target-man was a bewildering addition when we could have integrated academy products (George Hirst at the time) or simply saved money for a data-proven replacement. Slimani was the death of the target-man for Leicester City.
Kelechi Iheanacho: The Near-hit
Kelechi Iheanacho delivered the most complete and consistent output of any Leicester forward besides Vardy during this period. His statistical profile is striking: across 2020–2024, Iheanacho consistently posted strong expected contribution figures, with xG/90 frequently between 0.25 and 0.40, often accompanied by xA/90 in the 0.10–0.20 range. His shot-creating actions typically exceeded 3.0 per 90—a level indicative of hybrid forward play rather than pure poaching.
Technically, Iheanacho excelled in receiving between lines, combining with midfielders, and executing through-balls or one-touch sequences in congested central areas. As a partner to Vardy, this hybrid 9/10 role enabled Leicester to form a dual-threat system where Vardy attacked depth while Iheanacho contributed craft.
However, Iheanacho was never a structural successor because his game demanded possession-based mechanisms Leicester were unwilling or unable to implement. When positioned as the lone striker, the team lost its verticality. Without Vardy’s depth threat, the resulting system required more sustained possession, shorter combinations, and higher territorial control—conditions that Leicester rarely, if ever, achieved consistently.
Thus, Iheanacho was both successful and miscast: a highly productive forward whose greatest virtues did not align with a Vardy-centric tactical ecosystem. He remains the most effective non-Vardy striker of the era, but only if judged outside the succession framework.
Patson Daka: The Data-Proven Successor who flopped
Patson Daka represented the statistics-backed, stylistically sound, direct replacement for Jamie Vardy. At RB Salzburg, his metrics were exceptional in almost every attacking category: between 0.70-0.80 xG/90, with a near identical shot map, and a high frequency of runs and pressures per 90. The expectations were huge, the hype immense. For his age, the player was far above the average, so on paper, this was the destined successor.
In the East Midlands, the underlying process, numbers, and shot profiles remained encouraging, but the outcomes diverged catastrophically with inconsistency and a shattered confidence undermining any position work Daka did. Additionally, the Zambian's first touch during transitions - a vital element to our vertical play - became their weakest point. With miscontrols forcing backwards passing, disrupting momentum, and destroying those very transitional patterns the player should have enhanced.
Unlike 'Seniorman Kels', whose mismatch was primarily systemic, Daka's was executional. With more minutes than any other Vardy successor, more tactical compatibility, and data-driven recruitment, his inability to reproduce the finishing and efficiency makes him sorely disappointing. That is why, as the closest analogue to Vardy, the Zambian emerges as the worst striker of the last five years.
Jordan Ayew: Stability in Structural Collapse
Jordan Ayew's tenure requires evaluation through a different lens. The player was never signed to replace Jamie Vardy, and nor was he there to support Vardy; he was recruited by the King Power Club to stabilise a shattered system and relieve some of the pressure. Their style relies on ball security, controlled possession, and redirecting opposition build-up with intelligent pressing. Despite a low goal return, this was not the purpose, and so not the judgment criteria for Ayew
In a period where Leicester City lost their midfield dominance, Ayew offered some of the highest pressure counts of the group (15-20 pressures per 90) with a heavy emphasis on lane/space-oriented pressure direction rather than intense man-marking. Despite lower xG volumes than Daka (although Ayew has scored more recently), the Ghanaian forward's ball retention has been consistently superior to Daka's. Ayew is not a failed successor because he was never meant to be one.
The Minor Figures: Carranza, Cannon, Hirst, Evans, and Édouard
Julián Carranza’s sample size is too small for definitive judgment, though his MLS and Eredivisie output suggests above-average finishing and a centralised shot profile with shades of Vardy-like movement. His primary limitation appears systemic: he thrives in possession-dominant systems, not in Leicester’s fragmented post-Vardy structure. Especially at this time in the EFL Championship, where Carranza has struggled to offer anything.
Tom Cannon, by contrast, represents a striker whose versatility proved a detriment in a club seeking specialism. Without elite verticality, dominant physique, or high-level ball security, he neither replaced nor meaningfully complemented the Vardy blueprint. Similarly, George Hirst’s senior impact at Leicester was negligible; his successful development at Ipswich reveals more about Leicester’s pathway issues than about his inherent talent. Hirst has become the Iheanacho archetype and offers a strong penalty-box striker who can offer a more creative output at times.
Jake Evans remains a symbolic figure rather than an analytical case study—promising, energetic, technically bright, but far too inexperienced to enter the succession conversation meaningfully. However, the early signs from Evan's youth games are promising another high-octane, high-pressing forward.
Odsonne Édouard presents a different narrative: his profile, reminiscent of Iheanacho’s, should theoretically have offered ball-to-feet creativity. Yet his Leicester period was defined by anaerobic pressing, low impact, negligible minutes, and a visible stylistic mismatch. Despite this, he cannot be considered the worst striker of the era because, unlike Daka, he was neither intended nor equipped to function as the direct heir to Vardy’s system. His proposition was that of stylistic variation, providing an option. That being said, the Frenchman was absolutely horrendous.
Why Patson Daka Is the Era’s Definitive Failure
The analytical through-line should be clear: Jamie Vardy represented the structural principle, defining archetype, and elite proposition, which determined the very system and recruitment Leicester City used. Attempts to replace him have oscillated between misalignments in style, execution, and purpose. Iheanacho possessed the execution, but not the aura to redefine the system away from the talisman. Ayew is good, but does not deserve the No.9 mantle. Slimani, Carranza, Cannon, Hirst, and Evans collectively illustrate the Foxes' experimentation.
Patson Daka represents the clearest misfire. He was acquired precisely as the Zambian's profile was a near-identical replacement. With the most minutes of all successors, the shortcomings in execution, composure, decision-making, and underperformance illustrate Daka as the worst striker of the Vardy era, the sole reason we are still looking for a January signing. Odsonne Edouard's pathetic loan spell is a close second.