One of the biggest transfer soaps of the 2016 summer transfer period is already over before the transfer period even officially opened. That soap concerns Jamie Vardy joining Arsenal from champions Leicester City. The Gunners triggered the release class of the Leicester star, and everything pointed in the right direction for the move, but Vardy decided otherwise and signed a new 4-year deal at Leicester. So now the question is: Did Arsenal really miss out on Vardy?
Let’s start by saying that there’s no way you can deny that Vardy is a great striker who had an absolutely outstanding season, but would he have fit the Arsenal style of play; lots of possession and a fast ball circulation. Vardy is used to playing on the break: running behind defenders and then receiving a long ball from the back. There is a chance that Wenger saw Vardy as more of a successor of heavily criticised winger Theo Walcott, which means that Wenger wanted to play Vardy on the wing and occasionally as a striker.
There’s no way anybody can deny that Vardy had a great season, but with that said, last season was also the only season in which he really stood out, and that with 29 years of age.
Despite proving that he is a great goalscorer, he does have some significant weaknesses that have proven vital in Arsenal’s style of play, for example, his passing and aerial duels. The way Arsenal play is all based on a striker who can hold up the ball and then lay it off to another player, but Vardy doesn’t have the strength to do this.
Vardy’s passing also isn’t the best around; last season he had an average passing accuracy of 66%. This could’ve been a problem had Vardy moved to North London, especially when you take in mind that passing is vital to Arsenal’s play.
Jamie Vardy is a great striker for a team that play on the break, such as Leicester City, but there remain serious questions over whether he could have adapted his own style to fit with the Arsenal system. Sadly, these will never be answered as the Englishman has elected to stay true to himself and remain at Leicester City.
