Jamie Vardy's Next Chapter: From Limbo to Burnley
Jamie Vardy spent last summer in limbo. A Premier League title winner, a former England striker, and yet, after Cremonese dropped out of Serie A and he cut ties with the Italian club, he suddenly had no team and no clear next step. One season in Italy, over. The question: what now?
The obvious romantic answer was Leicester. A return to the club where he climbed from Championship hopeful to Premier League champion, to help the Foxes haul themselves off the canvas after back-to-back relegations and a slide into League One. The story almost wrote itself. But sentiment didn’t get a vote. Leicester looked elsewhere, and Vardy waited.
Wrexham, inevitably, entered the conversation. The “Welcome to Wrexham” cameras, the Hollywood gloss of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Racecourse Ground as a global stage. For many, Vardy felt like the perfect supporting character in that script.
There was interest, according to someone who knows him well. Danny Simpson, Vardy’s former Leicester team-mate, told GOAL there was more than just idle gossip around the Wrexham talk. Speaking courtesy of Free Bets, Simpson said: “I think there was something there. There were a few things that were there. I did speak to him.”
The move that stirred Simpson’s imagination, though, was a different one altogether.
“You know what I wanted? I know it's happened now but I would have liked to have seen him go to Everton. You need a striker, 20 minutes left in a game, coming on for [Thierno] Barry. Anyway, that didn't happen. That's just what I was thinking.”
Everton never materialised. Wrexham stayed an idea, not a destination. Instead, it was Burnley who made the decisive move, backed by a group of investors that includes NFL great JJ Watt. The Clarets offered a 12‑month deal and a platform in the Championship. Vardy signed. And just like that, the man many thought destined for Reynolds and Mac’s documentary universe will now be trying to put their Wrexham story on pause from the other side of the division.
For Simpson, the move is about more than nostalgia. It’s about a striker he insists can still hurt teams.
“He's still fit, he's still sharp, he's still going to get you goals,” Simpson said. “There's nothing on him, his weight and stuff. I hope he starts getting more games and getting goals because that's Jamie Vardy. He's always got another story, another chapter.”
That next chapter will cross a remarkable milestone. Vardy’s contract at Turf Moor runs past his 40th birthday on January 11, placing him in a rare group of outfielders still operating at a high level beyond that age. Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Gianluigi Buffon, Zlatan Ibrahimovic – different positions, different leagues, but part of the same exclusive club Vardy is now joining.
The fairytale question lingers. How long can he keep stretching this career?
Simpson is convinced there’s more to come. “I think he has got more in him,” he said. The key, in his view, lies in how Burnley manage the grind of the Championship.
“I think it'll come down to how he's managed with Tuesday and Saturday. I remember when he did that at Leicester, when he got them promoted. He scored 20-plus goals. He looks after himself but he needs managing right because it's tough to do that, especially in the Championship. It's up to how the manager manages him. As long as he's still hungry, which he is, he could do another year after.”
Vardy has already started laying foundations for life after the final whistle. He is branching into YouTube and streaming Bundesliga matches, testing out a different kind of spotlight while still clinging fiercely to the one on the pitch.
“He's also looking at the future and doing his own little bits, which is only right to do by the way,” Simpson added. “I hope he keeps going because there's only a few of us left from that [Leicester title-winning] team that are still playing.”
For now, there is nothing semi-retired about his commitment. Vardy has made just one appearance for Burnley so far – a 25‑minute cameo from the bench – but the intensity hasn’t dimmed. Those who’ve worked with him don’t expect anything less than 100 per cent, even in the dying minutes of a game, even at 39.
Burnley need every ounce of that edge. Their start to the season has been bleak: winless, bottom of the Championship, and short on confidence. Wrexham, the club he almost joined, are hardly flying either, with seven points from seven games and their own frustrations to stew over.
Both teams now head into the international break in search of a reset. Burnley will hope Vardy’s legs – and his story – still have enough in them to drag a season, and maybe a club, in a different direction.
