JAMIE VARDY has all the trappings of the modern-day superstar… but none
of the big-time attitude.
From the personalised Bentley to the lucrative new contract and offers of a
big-screen biopic, the Leicester striker is finally reaping the rewards of
all his hard work.
Yet the man himself is adamant that he remains exactly the same person who
once worked in a factory while pocketing £30-a-week in non-League football.
And even the prospect of rubbing shoulders with Barcelona in the Champions
League and Germany at the Euros does not faze England’s unlikely lad.
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Vardy has seen his life turned upside down since scoring in a record 11
consecutive Premier League games in November to fire Leicester to the top of
the table.
Only last month he signed a new £80,000-a-week contract and he recently met
the film maker who wants to turn his incredible story into a Hollywood
blockbuster.
But ask him how he has adapted to his dramatic change in circumstances and
Vardy simply shrugs and claims: “I wouldn’t know¿I don’t really leave the
house.
“I don’t think the lads look at me any differently and I feel exactly the
same.
“My life is literally train, home, kids, dogs, the missus and then it’s time
to go to bed.
“Maybe you get the chance to sit down and think about everything you’ve done,
but once you are home you just want to relax and forget it all for a bit if
you can.
“It’s only when you get back to training and you’re stepping over that white
line that you are fully focussed on your football.”
Vardy, who will marry fiancée Rebecca Nicholson as soon as the season is over
in May, has already met director Adrian Butchart to discuss his film plans.
But he is not exactly dreaming of Hollywood and admits: “I read about it in
the papers and I didn’t know if it was true. Turned out it was.
“I met him and asked him if he was mad.
“Now it’s up to him. If he wants to do it, there’s nothing I can do.”
Only England team-mate Harry Kane has managed more than Vardy’s 19 Premier
League goals so far this season.
Yet even with Tottenham emerging as Leicester’s closest contenders in the most
unpredictable title race of all time, the only rivalry to break out between
the two camps has been on the virtual battlefield.
“I’ve had a chat with the Spurs lads, but not about the title race,” he
claims. “We’ve been talking about Call of Duty.
“We’ve not played on it together but I was told earlier that one of their lads
just lurks in a corner and waits for someone to run past him so he can get
him.
“I haven’t stopped to think about what Leicester might be about to achieve
this season.
“People have asked me in the past if I’ve watched our rivals’ games on TV. But
I was on PlayStation at the time and if I’d watched the football I would
have had to stream it illegally!”
The magnitude of Leicester’s achievement finally hit home on Tuesday when the
club announced that they will be playing Barcelona and Paris St.Germain in
this summer’s International Champions Cup.
“Unbelievable scenes,” Vardy admits. “Two years ago we were playing Doncaster.
Now it’s Barcelona.”
Leicester now need just nine points from their remaining seven games to be
absolutely certain of joining the Spanish superstars in next season’s
Champions League.
But Vardy insists: “The only pressure we had this season was to make sure we
stayed up. We’ve done that and now we are just enjoying ourselves.
“The whole squad has been brilliant and everyone is putting in the hard work
needed to go places.
“It’s good to see other Leicester players getting an international call-up and
my only advice for Danny Drinkwater this week is not to change a thing.
“Roy Hodgson has picked him to do exactly what he has been doing week in, week
out for his club.
“It’s an absolute honour to play for your country and if it means playing out
of my usual position to win another cap, I am more than happy to do that.
“Wherever the boss wants me to play, I will always give 100 per cent. That’s
the type of player I will always be.”