Arsene Wenger revealed that Arsenal gave Jamie Vardy “a lot of money” to sign them in 2016, wanting the Leicester striker would have been a good fit for the club.
After promoting Leicester to a stunning title victory in 2016, Vardy looked certain to move to Arsenal, who had been Leicester’s top title rivals that season, next summer.
Such a move did not materialize, however, with Vardy putting pen to paper on a new contract at Leicester, where he has remained one of the top visiting players in every Premier League season. He didn’t want to want to, on Wenger’s side, anyway.
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FREE: The highlights of Leicester ‘s win over Liverpool in the Premier League
“I offered him a lot of money at the time,” Wenger told beIN Sports. “Leicester had just won the tree at the time in 2016, and they really didn’t want to lose it and offered him a longer contract with about the same money if there wasn’t more.”
It was a sign that could be quite eye-catching at the time, with many feeling that Vardy would not fit the Arsenal-owned style of play.
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Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers says their side will enjoy their 3-1 win over Liverpool, which will see them move up to second place in the Premier League.
Wenger, however, maintained that Vardy owned the qualities he values in a striker, ones that would have been a real asset to his Arsenal side.
“He’s always in the game,” Wenger said. “It doesn’t look like he’s getting out of the game and the strikers are so big. It means he’ll get a score at some point. Even when he misses an opportunity. he stays in the game.
“It’s true we had more of the ball, but I think around the box, it’s run time and the way it finds the place makes it the way it is. When you see the big strikers, they move in the box when others stand in the box.He has those things.
“They read the game earlier than others, they think better, they understand faster than other people what’s going on.”