Everyone was a bit taken aback when reports of Jamie Vardy being close to joining Italian football club Cremonese began circulating. But that wasn't confirmation in any stretch of the imagination. However, when the truly big, trustworthy journalists and their noteworthy outlets started to validate the claims, shock emerged. It's not that Leicester City's Blue Army fan base or the wider English sports supporters at large have anything against the team from Italy. On the contrary. It is just that we kind of wanted him to sign for an outfit in England to continue watching him play and monitor his career closer as loyal 'Vardists' (or Vardisi).
Having the retired Three Lions centre forward in the Premier League with a new home would have been interesting to say the least. Although none of us in the City faithful wished to compete against Vards in the Championship this season. And we were inescapably correct in our assessment that he would not consider directly playing versus the Foxes during an important campaign. Alas, the in demand 38-year-old decided against a move within the United Kingdom. Nor did he seemingly fancy competing in North America's Major League Soccer division. While it is said that his wife, Rebekah, did want to go somewhere such as Miami with Inter.
But Vardy ultimately made the destination choice for his next move. And the Leicester legend's motivation to join Serie A side has now been disclosed by his new head coach, Davide Nicola. Why don't we hear what the 'City of Violins' gaffer has to say?
Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy's reasons to sign for Serie A side revealed
It appears that the former Fleetwood Town man was attracted to the lauded la Cremo project. La Tigri's manager thinks their two early wins vs AC Milan and Sassuolo helped Vardy make his decision. Their salary offer was apparently increased fairly rapidly as well:
"When we realised the deal was feasible, we started explaining to him what we wanted to build. Feeling that kind of response and being chosen for that reason was important. He's still a hungry player.
“I don't sense any hype, but rather people's enthusiasm for what we're doing. The connection with our fans will be the real driving force."