Claudio Ranieri confirms £20million Arsenal bid for Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy

 

Claudio Ranieri , the Leicester City manager, has appeared to confirm Arsenal’s interest in the striker Jamie Vardy, according to a report in Italy.

The 29-year-old is believed to be on the verge of completing a move to north London after the £20million release clause in his contract was activated.

According to Saturday’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport , the Italian daily sports newspaper, when Ranieri was questioned about Vardy’s future, he told a journalist: “It’s all true.”

The quote appears in the print edition of the newspaper but not on its website, which carries a different version of the story.

Vardy, who scored 24 league goals in Leicester’s remarkable title-winning campaign, signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with the club in February to ward off interest from Manchester City.

The deal, however, is thought to include a clause which allows the England international to move to a club in the Champions League, provided that the club in question bids approximately £20million.

Arsenal are believed to have triggered this clause after the move was sanctioned by Arsene Wenger, the club’s manager, and a move could be finalised before Monday.

Wenger has previously hailed Vardy, saying: “Yes he is worth [up to] £30m, because he is the best goal-scorer in the league.

“You have many players under him who have been paid much more, and who don’t score that number of goals. Without a doubt, he is worth that money today.”

Vardy signed for Leicester in 2011 from Fleetwood Town, having started his senior career at Stocksbridge Park Steels and risen through English football’s lower divisions