Jamie Vardy sale could trigger mass Leicester exodus

If Jamie Vardy moves to Arsenal, expect to see a lot of Foxes follow him out the door

The Premier League world is currently captivated by the possibility of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy’s transfer saga. If the English international does make the move to Arsenal, expect it to lead to a mass exodus of Leicester players exiting the club.

As concerned as Leicester fans should be about the prospect of Vardy leaving, they should stop and consider the true worst case scenario. The Foxes would miss Vardy but they could somewhat replace him with savvy transfer purchases. What Claudio Ranieri’s club cannot do, is survive a mass exodus of the players that led them to a Premier League title.

Even as Vardy’s move hangs in the balance, the press is already starting to pick up stories of N’Golo Kante following him to North London. Make no mistake, Vardy is a star, but Kante might be the Foxes’ most important player. He was sensational in the club’s midfield and helped to trigger a great deal of the club’s vaunted counter attacks.

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Furthermore, he might be the more difficult man to replace. There are a number of reasonably high-profile strikers available in the summer transfer market, but available talent in the midfield has been more scarce. It might be impossible, and at the least would be very costly, for Leicester to replace their French star.

Foxes fan would also logically be concerned about the possibility of a Riyad Mahrez exit. I also believe those fears would be extremely justified if Vardy heads out the door. Mahrez is smart enough to realize that space on the pitch could shrink quickly without his prolific teammate in the squad. He may be inclined to leave while his stock is at its peak.

The Leicester bleeding might not stop there though. There are quite a few other stars who might be of interest to some big clubs around the world. A player like Danny Drinkwater might also think he needs to move elsewhere. After all, he wasn’t able to secure a place in the English national team despite his solid performances for the champions this season. He could surmise that he needs to find a more high-profile club if he wants to break into Roy Hodgson’s squad in the future.

Even a young starlet like Demarai Gray might find himself disillusioned with the prospects of playing at Leicester without the support of the stars that helped him make an easy transition to the Premier League. He would certainly garner significant interest from a number of “bigger” Premier League clubs with more money to spend than the Foxes.

It must be stated that Leicester aren’t going to simply roll over and let other clubs pick off their talent without a fight. Some players will feel loyalty to Ranieri and the club for helping them to achieve one of football’s greatest stories of all time. Fox fans must understand that most professional football players are more loyal to the almighty dollar.

Leicester and their fan base should be concerned about the future of Jamie Vardy, but they need to be spending significant resources making sure that his departure would be an isolated incident. If they don’t, Leicester could find themselves a lot closer to relegation than a Premier League title next season.

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