To be fair, Jamie Vardy really does love a party...
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The Leicester City and England star is back in form with four goals in four games since new manager Craig Shakespeare took over from Claudio Ranieri and Vardy has a lot more to thank Shakespeare for than just regaining his scoring touch in recent weeks
Vardy, 30, has once again scored the goals to help the Foxes pull clear of the relegation zone but his new boss has revealed that the striker almost left Leicester to be a bar promoter on the Mediterranean party island of Ibiza. Seriously.
Speaking ahead of the reigning champs’ game against Sunderland on Tuesday (Watch live, 2:45 p.m. ET online via NBCSports.com) Shakespeare revealed that when he was assistant manager at Leicester in 2013 Vardy was close to calling it quits when he first joined the then second-tier club from Fleetwood Town.“At that time Jamie would be the first to admit he was going through a rough patch and myself Nigel and Steve [Walsh, fellow assistant-manager] sat him down and told him about his attributes and that we thought he could go on. We not only mentioned he was capable of playing in the Premier League, we said he also had the attributes to play for the national team.
“Thankfully he didn’t go to Ibiza and it’s fair to say he made the right decision, considering how well he has done. Our job is to support players. Sometimes they do have self-doubt.”
So, there you have it.
Turns out we know exactly why Vardy had a hankering for some vodka flavored Skittles and a shot of port before games. He probably planned on selling them on the main strip in Ibiza...
After he decided to stay at Leicester, things worked out pretty well for Vardy.
He’s scored 60 goals in 181 appearances for the Foxes, become a regular for the England national team, won the Premier League title and reached the last eight of the Champions League as well signing a huge new contract for over $125,000 per week and he has a Hollywood movie being made about his incredible rise to stardom from the lower reaches of English soccer.
Still, as soon as he retires we know where Vardy is heading.