Decision time looms for Jamie Vardy and Leicester City as Ruud van Nistelrooy hints at future
The captain’s contract runs out at the end of this season and there’s a possibility time could be called on his 13-year career at the King Power Stadium
Leicester City will begin to weigh up Jamie Vardy’s future after the next four games, manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has suggested, with time potentially ticking on the striker’s incredible career at the club.
Vardy’s contract at the King Power Stadium expires this June. With the club’s Premier League status in the balance, there’s a possibility his 13-year run as City’s number nine could come to a close.
While van Nistelrooy has previously suggested 38-year-old Vardy has the fitness to keep playing, there’s a decision to be made as to whether that is with City.
It feels far less likely his stay will be extended if the club drop a division, signalling the end of a mostly glorious era.
Van Nistelrooy takes his side to Manchester City on Wednesday (7.45pm kick-off) for what is the first of a tough run of fixtures.
Matches against Champions League contenders Newcastle and Brighton follow before the Foxes take on title favourites Liverpool.
Unless City pull off a couple of upsets, they could be dead and buried by the end of that run.
Wolves, nine points clear before this week’s fixtures, played West Ham on Tuesday night, and have matches against bottom-half sides Ipswich, Tottenham and Manchester United up next.
After that, City’s fate may be even clearer, and more consideration can be given to the future.
Asked where the club stand on Vardy’s contract, van Nistelrooy said: “Now with the situation, there’s three or four games coming up quickly and we are planning that.
“We are doing everything we can to get points and show that we can collect points and get as close to Wolves as possible. Then we take it from there, and after that we can see.”
City still have fixtures to come against their rivals in the bottom four, but wins over Wolves, Southampton and Ipswich alone are unlikely to save them, with shock victories required.
“It’s coming to a closure now where we can’t pick the big games anymore,” van Nistelrooy said. “It’s nine games. We’re nine points behind.
“So it’s clear that it has to be now, but we also know that the opposition we’re facing is going to be tough over the next four games, but we’ll do everything possible within our powers.”
Leicester City’s big signing has not met expectations amid three-month wait and double omission
The Leicester City midfielder has not managed to make the bench for the last two matches despite being an ‘example’ to the squad in how he’s trying to help the team
Not meeting the “expectations” of his £20m transfer to Leicester City is “difficult” for midfielder Oliver Skipp as he fights to return to Ruud van Nistelrooy’s squad.
Skipp’s move from Tottenham, the joint-biggest deal of the summer for City alongside Bilal El Khannouss’s switch from Genk, has so far not panned out how the club and the player expected.
