In an era of football where money spent on players does the talking, it is not very likely to see a £1 million signing almost single-handedly push the club into Europe from the Championship.
However, that is the exceptional story of one Jamie Vardy, who joined Leicester from non-league club Fleetwood Town in 2012, and almost a decade later, is arguably one of the best strikers in the world, if not only in the Premier League.
‘That’s one of many reasons why there may never be a better transfer than Vardy’s from Fleetwood Town to Leicester – not just in the Premier League era, but in football history,’ said Jamie Carragher in his column for the Telegraph.
‘I am always reluctant to definitively declare anyone or anything is ‘the best ever’. It can only be a matter of opinion. But if you were compiling a list of the greatest, most influential signings and judging it on value for money, who eclipses Vardy?
‘We can talk about many transfers which changed the course of Premier League history, such as Eric Cantona joining Manchester United, Dennis Bergkamp to Arsenal, Yaya Toure or David Silva moving to Manchester City, or Virgil van Dijk joining Liverpool.
‘They were established, international players and household names heading to clubs already building towards titles – the finishing touch to emerging teams.
‘The Vardy story stands alone in that he joined Leicester for £1 million directly from non-league football and defied expectations. Whenever the story of English football is told to future generations, they will talk about Leicester before and after Vardy’s arrival.’
The 34-year-old has managed to find the back of the net 144 times in 333 appearances, with his most recent strike being essential in taking three points off of reigning champions Liverpool at the King Power Stadium.
