By Craig Simpkin
With nearly a third of the campaign gone, Jamie Vardy is statistically the best striker in the Premier League.
You may be chortling away at the thought of that, but think of it along these lines for simplicity: he’s scored four more goals than Sergio Aguero (who scored five in one match remember), five more than Olivier Giroud, six more than Harry Kane and eight more than £32 million man Diego Costa.
He’s the top goalscorer in the land, with the best shot conversion rate of any striker in the Premier League (lethal), who’s had more touches in open play than any other forward (hard worker), and created more chances for his team than your Aguero’s, your Kane’s and your Costa’s (architect). Suddenly, the Leicester man is being taken seriously as a true Golden Boot contender.
Madrid? Get Real
Knowing all of the above, why is it such a surprise when the 28-year-old is linked with a big money move? One newspaper, which shall remain nameless, branded the reports from Spanish media outlet Fichajes that Real Madrid were eyeing a move for the former Fleetwood Town man as ‘astonishing’.
But if the Premier League is the best league in the world as is often claimed, then why is it so astonishing for the division’s most potent striker to be linked with one of the biggest clubs on the planet?
Transfer rumours are spread each and every day of the week of course – tabloids have to keep their website visitor numbers up just as much as they need to sell copies of their paper – and sensationalism is just one way in which they do this. The Vardy to Madrid story could well be hyperbole created by a writer struggling to meet his or her deadline, but the sheer notion of it really shouldn’t have been greeted with the shock and cynicism that it has been.
Remember in the summer when Spurs had a £25 million bid for Saido Berahino – that’s three-goal Saido Berahino by the way – rejected by West Brom?
Of course, that fee was inflated by the ‘transfer window desperation’ which so often affects managers like a fog twice a year, as well as the player’s fledgling years. But add Vardy’s cutting edge into that Spurs side and you have a team capable of achieving simply what they should be: Champions League qualification.
Berahino’s name is once again being mentioned in the same breath as Tottenham Hotspur, so why no (genuine) speculation regarding the future of Vardy?
You would suspect that the former Stocksbridge Park Steels man would fit neatly into Jurgen Klopp’s all-action approach at Liverpool too; he could run the channels that Christian Benteke is predisposed not to or that Daniel Sturridge’s knees simply won’t allow him to.
England’s Number Nine
Further mystery surrounds the outpouring of grief which met Vardy’s call up to the full England squad recently. But why? Would we rather not see an in-form striker running his heart out for the Three Lions, or Wayne Rooney desperately trying to find some form as an out-and-out striker?
Primarily, the general downer that the public have for Vardy is derived from the unfashionable blue shirt of Leicester City that he pulls on week in, week out; rather than the hipster-adored red of Arsenal or the slightly tarnished blue of Chelsea.
It is hard for an ‘old school’ centre forward like Vardy to be considered fashionable – and that’s not helped by the fact that he bears a close resemblance to Wilfrid Brambell’s Albert Steptoe, but to borrow the words of Carly Simon’s hit of the same name nobody does it better in terms of pure output for his team than Leicester’s number nine.
So if you are happy for your club to continue to splash tens of millions on fashionable players who are ultimately style over substance then good luck to you. But don’t be surprised when your team is linked to a red-hot striker who scores goals, creates chances and who represents his country. They can – and no doubt will – do a lot worse in their transfer market dealings.
