It is shortly after 10pm on a freezing night in northern Italy and one of England’s most famous footballers pauses in the stadium car park to reflect on yet another milestone.
Jamie Vardy’s goal in Cremonese’s 2-2 draw with Cagliari was his 150th in Europe’s top-five leagues. Five in Serie A, to go with the 145 for Leicester in the Premier League. When we tell Vardy’s wife Rebekah of the milestone, the response is immediate. ‘Two hundred next!’ she says with a smile. And even at 39, who would bet against him?
The Vardys soon disappear into their black, chauffeur-driven people carrier, bound for their new home in the town of Salo on Lake Garda, about an hour outside the city of Cremona, in Lombardy. It has been only four months but already Vardy is the main man here.
Moments earlier Cremonese head coach Davide Nicola had made for the people carrier, only to be told that it was reserved for someone else.
Just as the stadium announcer used to do at Leicester when listing the teams, the man with the mic at Cremonese names all the players in numerical order but leaves Vardy – now wearing No 10 instead of No 9 – until last, for that extra loud cheer.
Cremonese’s kit manufacturer Acerbis, a relatively small firm from nearby Bergamo, received so many requests for ‘Vardy 10’ replica shirts that they were selling out quicker than the company could make them.
Jamie Vardy has made a strong start to life in Italy with Cremonese, after leaving Leicester following 13 years in the East Midlands
His goal against Cagliari last week was his 150th in Europe’s top-five leagues
Wife Rebekah’s message for the 39-year-old? ‘Two hundred next!’
Groups of supporters from England – many of them from Leicester – have been attending Cremonese games and for the Cagliari match, one Vardy fan had booked an 11,000-mile round trip from Hong Kong in the hope of having his shirts autographed.
Vardy signed with Cremonese for this season, with an option of another if they stay in Serie A. He is 40 next year and though some will inevitably believe this to be his final season as a professional, Vardy has no interest in such predictions.
‘One of the lads in the dressing room told me about the 150 goals, and I still feel good,’ Vardy tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘While the legs keep doing what they are doing, I will keep playing until they tell me otherwise. I’m going to keep enjoying my 30s.
‘I’m just focusing on what I’m doing here and on playing well for the team. My focus is on the rest of the season.’
When Vardy chose Cremonese, it was easy to draw the link with Leicester – the underdogs who rose to improbable heights, as the Foxes did when they lifted the Premier League title nearly a decade ago.
These are, though, two very different realities. Whereas Leicester is a medium-sized city with a population of nearly 600,000, Cremona is a peaceful town of barely 70,000. Whatever else you might say about Leicester’s football in recent years, King Power Stadium is an impressive, 32,000-seat arena that hosted an England international in 2018.
Though it has charm, Cremonese’s Stadio Zini holds about 16,000, the away end is uncovered and there are parts that could do with some TLC. If this is to be Vardy’s final club in Europe’s elite leagues, it feels – on the face of it – an unlikely place to bring down the curtain.
Yet Vardy has spent a career surprising people and the more you think about it, the more it feels a logical choice. An evocative stadium, tough competition and feisty local fans. Let’s not forget that this is a man who was playing in the Conference until he was 25 and scored 111 Premier League goals after turning 30 – more than Ryan Giggs, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo scored in total.
The Vardys have a house on Lake Garda, an hour away from the city of Cremona
Though it has charm, Cremonese’s Stadio Zini holds about 16,000, the away end is uncovered and there are parts that could do with some TLC
Let’s not forget that this is a man who was playing in the Conference until he was 25 with Fleetwood Town, before his big move to Leicester
That is the essence of Vardy – not going through the motions in the United States or the Middle East. Maybe one day, but not now.
‘We are really grateful to Jamie and his family for thinking carefully about Cremona and Cremonese,’ recalls Cremonese sporting director Simone Giacchetta. ‘At first we thought the conversations might not lead anywhere but relatively quickly they became a lot more serious.
‘He wanted to carry on playing in the top five leagues and Cremonese was another challenge. Jamie is the man for challenges. But in the first place, his family is his priority. He doesn’t need fame or popularity for its own sake.
‘When news began to filter out that we might sign him, the fans and players were very excited. The city went crazy when we signed him. Fans came to meet him at the airport and to watch his first training session.
‘He has such experience and such a big personality that his impact in the dressing room was immediate. The other players can use him as a model and his career is a motivation for them all.’
He might not fly across the grass as swiftly as he did 10 years ago. He is more careful about how and where he will close down defenders. There are not many aerial challenges, either.
But make no mistake, he remains a highly effective striker. This is still Vardy, all right. Within five minutes against Cagliari, he had scampered away from former Everton and Barcelona defender Yerry Mina and teed up the opener for Dennis Johnsen. Then Vardy’s diagonal effort was too hot to handle for Cagliari goalkeeper Elia Caprile and Cremonese were two up inside half an hour. Mina, incidentally, did not return for the second half.
Even though Cagliari’s fightback meant Vardy’s team had to settle for a point, they are still eight above the relegation zone in Serie A. For a promoted club, it is a very solid start. Survival would raise the prospect of Vardy staying at Cremonese. Like Vardy himself, the club are cautious about the future but it seems clear they would like to keep him.
Vardy celebrates in typically acrobatic fashion after scoring against Atalanta in October
He may be in his late 30s but there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet
Vardy and his wife Rebekah (pictured) appear to be loving life in northern Italy
Football is not the only factor, however. The family will decide their next steps together and they will not be short of options. Though they have settled well, in November their home was raided by burglars who seized around £80,000 of their belongings.
‘The priority for us all is to stay in Serie A,’ says Giacchetta. ‘It’s important for the club, the ownership, the city – and for Jamie himself. It would be another personal victory for him if we did it, as well as for the team.
‘Hopefully we achieve that objective and afterwards it will be easier to speak to everyone about these matters. Cremonese have already shown how happy we are to have Jamie here and for him to be playing for us.’
The players would feel the same. Though Vardy is a superstar, he has not behaved as such within the squad.
Despite the language barriers, he can make himself understood – ‘communication is the least of our issues,’ says strike partner Federico Bonazzoli – and team-mates Johnsen and Jari Vandeputte speak English well.
Other celebrated habits remain. ‘He drinks a fair amount of Red Bull,’ defender Romano Floriani has said. ‘We have a fridge the height of a person that’s full of Red Bull. I think he drinks it every day but he manages brilliantly. When he trains it seems like he’s much younger.’
Centre back Federico Baschirotto calls Vardy ‘the best I’ve played with, along with (former Barcelona and France defender) Samuel Umtiti. I told him I followed Leicester’s title-winning season. It’s an extra motivation for me, as I started at the lower levels too.’ According to midfielder Alessio Zerbin, it is Vardy’s ‘hunger to succeed that really strikes you’.
Nothing has changed about Vardy’s routine. Popular narrative will always focus on the pre-match ham and cheese omelettes, the coffee and the Red Bull. It is a remarkable story but this regime alone would not have kept Vardy going like this.
‘Cremonese have already shown how happy we are to have Jamie here and for him to be playing for us’
Centre back Federico Baschirotto calls Vardy ‘the best I’ve played with, along with Samuel Umtiti’
As at Leicester, he has installed a cryotherapy chamber in the family villa at Salo, to aid post-match recovery. His attitude to training is inspirational. ‘He pushes the young players,’ explains captain Matteo Bianchetti. ‘And he never, ever moans.’
Former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca spent a season with Vardy at Leicester and the pair retained a respectful relationship. ‘He spoke very well to me about the club,’ Vardy recalled.
‘I’ve already played for Maresca so I know how to play in these teams, with the Italian style of play. I always watched Italian football when I was a kid and it’s one of the best leagues in the world. When I was younger I used to watch Alessandro Del Piero. In my career people have always doubted me and I’ve usually managed to prove them wrong.’
All of which begs the inevitable question: why did Premier League clubs allow Vardy to slip through their fingers?
There were more than four months between Vardy announcing that he would be leaving Leicester after 13 years, and signing for Cremonese. Last season, albeit in a relegated side, Vardy finished the campaign with 10 goals in all competitions and played nearly 3,000 minutes. He has completed 90 minutes 13 times already this season.
In the Premier League this term, only 14 centre forwards have matched Vardy’s five goals. Though the pace of Serie A is more forgiving than the English top flight, Vardy has nonetheless had to adapt to a new country and new football culture. His response indicates he could still have done a good job for a Premier League club.
That was the key, however. Vardy had no interest in being a bit-part player, settling for 15 minutes here and there off the bench. His defiant words are no act. He genuinely believes he can continue well into his 40s and if he is to do so, he wants to be centre stage to the end.
That is the quality that still persuades people to fly from places as distant Hong Kong just for a glimpse of him. ‘He’s been my idol since I was young,’ explains Wong Hoi-yin, 22. ‘I started watching football in 2015-16 when Leicester won the league. I thought Vardy was amazing. I’m in Italy for two weeks and it’s worth it to see him live.’
Vardy had no interest in being a bit-part player, settling for 15 minutes here and there off the bench
He genuinely believes he can continue well into his 40s and if he is to do so, he wants to be centre stage to the end
Though the pace of Serie A is more forgiving than the English top flight, Vardy has nonetheless had to adapt to a new country and new football culture
Wong is carrying two Cremonese shirts and one Leicester shirt bearing Vardy’s name and number. When Vardy finished his warm-up, Wong called out to him and held out a sign – ‘I flew 9,370km (5,822 miles) to see you, Vardy.’
The trip was worth it. With the game long since finished and the temperature dropping below zero, a Cremonese official emerges from the stadium to hand back Wong’s shirts, all freshly signed by his hero.
It is a far easier journey to reach Cremona from England. And if any Premier League recruitment chief made the trip, they might just regret not trying a little harder to sign him last summer.
‘They all underestimated him – yet again,’ says one ally. And wherever the journey takes him next, Vardy intends to keep proving them wrong.
