Leicester will never see the like of Jamie Vardy again

 Sitting in a Santa Monica hotel, shortly after Leicester City’s glorious Premier League title win in 2016, Jamie Vardy compared his own rise to a fairground ride.

The problem is that, at some point, the rollercoaster has to come to a halt. Vardy has now reached the end of his journey at Leicester, announcing on Thursday that he would leave the club at the end of the season. We will never see his like again. He is not only Leicester’s greatest ever signing – a mere £1 million from Fleetwood Town in May 2012 – but arguably one of the Premier League’s best ever buys.

Vardy has lifted the Premier League title, an FA Cup, two Championship titles and a Community Shield. He has rampaged across Europe’s finest arenas in the Champions League.

During that title-winning season, when Leicester turned putting noses out of joint into an art form, he broke a long-standing goals record by scoring in 11 consecutive league matches. The previous owner of that record? Leicester’s current manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Vardy has also appeared in a World Cup and European Championship, earning 26 caps for his country.

Quite simply, he is a true legend of the past decade in English football. A “Barclaysman” in every sense. Vardy once dressed as Spiderman to lift spirits around the training ground and has been Leicester’s very own superhero. He turned 38 in January and does not deserve his story to end on such a sour note.

Leicester were relegated on Sunday, for the second time in three seasons, and in recent weeks he has visibly carried the pain of such a nightmare campaign. Even in a struggling team, he managed seven league goals this season. It has been difficult not to feel sympathy for him.

Vardy’s story is also one of great loyalty. He had many chances to leave over the years, most notably when Arsenal came in for him after the title win. He has epitomised Leicester’s electric story more than any other player. There may be frustration over this season, but the 13 years have had more ups than downs.

Despite the infamous stories of Red Bull and omelettes before matches, he has cleverly prolonged his career by tailoring his training regime. He went so far as to have a cryotherapy chamber installed in his home to aid recovery.

Even Vardy cannot have predicted what would follow when Leicester shattered the non-League transfer record to sign him. It was Nigel Pearson who took that gamble nearly 13 years ago.

Many clubs watched the tearaway with a soaring reputation, including future England manager Roy Hodgson while he was in charge at West Bromwich Albion. It proved a slow-burner, and many one-on-ones with Pearson and his assistant Craig Shakespeare were required to convince Vardy that he could cut it at a higher level. Losing a play-off semi-final in dramatic fashion to Watford in his first season, promotion was achieved in the following campaign and the fairy tale began.

Vardy was the archetypal pest, with shark-like instincts in the penalty area. So many goals spring to mind, and I still maintain he has never received enough credit for his lethal finishing. There was the goal which clinched a remarkable 5-3 win over Manchester United, with Vardy, complete with Mohican haircut, sliding to his knees in celebration. A brilliant individual goal at West Brom later in the 2014-15 season which sparked the great escape from relegation.