‘Thank God I didn’t’… He nearly quit Leicester City for hilarious reason, now he’s one of their best players.

Leicester City has had some talented players fill the King Power Stadium throughout the years, but one star nearly retired before achieving fame.

Leicester City’s recent triumph against Tottenham Hotspur has given them optimism for Premier League survival, after a disappointing 2024/25 season under Ruud van Nistleoroy.

While the current season isn’t going as planned, there’s no doubting the Foxes have been a very successful team in the previous decade.

The Midlands club astonished the football world in 2016 when they won their first Premier League title after narrowly avoiding relegation the previous season.

Their fortunes have been uneven since that triumph, but Leicester supporters have enjoyed European evenings, FA Cup triumphs, and a Community Shield victory.

Jamie Vardy, one of the club’s all-time greats, has played a crucial role in this success.

Jamie Vardy almost left Leicester City for Ibiza.

Vardy joined Leicester in 2012 following an excellent 40-game tenure with Fleetwood Town, where he scored 34 goals and assisted seven.

throughout his first season with the King Power, he only scored five goals and assisted four throughout the Midlands’ Championship run.

Vardy expressed in 2021 to the Daily Mail that he pondered leaving Leicester to live in Ibiza during the challenging season.

He explained: “Moving to Ibiza seemed like a fantastic decision at the time. It seemed like a great idea. Thank goodness I didn’t.

“It was one of those situations. I’d never been in that situation before—playing in the Championship, suffering, performances and goals not coming, and that makes you think.

“I had a discussion with Nigel Pearson at one time, and I was trying to persuade him to loan me back to Fleetwood since I had done well there. He remarked, “Listen, you’re good enough; just knuckle down, you can play much higher.”

“At that point, I knew he believed in me, and it all came together. It was a learning curve. The significant increase in standard took some time to adjust to, as did the season after our promotion.”

Jamie Vardy’s statistics for Leicester City

It’s a good thing Vardy stayed at Leicester since he’s gone on to establish himself as probably the finest player in club history.

The 38-year-old has ran out of time to become the Foxes’ all-time leading goalscorer, which is currently held by Arthur Chandler (273).

However, the Englishman has nonetheless put up some ridiculous stats over the years, including breaking a Premier League record for scoring in the most straight matches – a distinction formerly held by his current boss.

Jamie Vardy	Leicester City stats
Appearances	486
Goals	198
Assists	69

Vardy is still scoring goals in 2024/25, but given his age and the fact that he will be out of contract in the summer, this might be his final season at the club.