What's happened to Jamie Vardy at Cremonese since he left Leicester City | OneFootball

The Foxes legend made his maiden venture into European football in the summer

Leicester City's return to the Championship hasn't gone as envisaged, with Foxes supporters hardly in a positive move as the season enters the New Year.

The East Midlands side, on paper, have one of the most quality and experienced squads in the division, hence why many outsiders still predicted a promotion charge before a ball was kicked in August, despite the club's well-documented financial uncertainties.

Marti Cifuentes has remained under severe pressure at the King Power Stadium as a result, with the potential of a points' deduction in the early weeks and months of 2026 still hanging over the club - a predicament which could shape the Spaniard's side's season in a negative way, rather than a sustained push for the play-off places between now and May.

The aforementioned restrictions meant that not much transfer activity occurred in the summer window, with only four incomings made - three of which were on loan - whilst a plethora of experienced performers and big earners departed the club after their second relegation campaign from the Premier League within a three-season period.

The biggest of those, undoubtedly, came in the form of iconic frontman and modern-day top flight legend, Jamie Vardy, who called time on his spell with the Foxes, some 13 years after striking a record-breaking £1m transfer agreement from current League Two outfit, Fleetwood Town.

In exactly 500 competitive appearances for the Midlands side, the 38-year-old managed to net 200 goals, with 145 of those coming in the Premier League, which he won back in 2015/16 as part of Leicester's against all odds, '5000-1' title-winning success under Claudio Ranieri.

The 26-time England international also won the FA Cup, Community Shield and the Championship on two occasions during his lengthy spell, before departing at the expiration of his contract in June.

With several clubs then linked with his signature, the Sheffield native's next career move came as somewhat of a surprise when he moved to Serie A side, Cremonese, on an initial one-year deal.

It has been a steady campaign for the top division newcomers thus far after their play-off promotion in June, with Vardy offering a wealth of experience to Davide Nicola's outfit as his aforementioned contract reaches the halfway point.

So, with that in mind, Football League World have rounded up the main talking points of his stint at the Stadio Giovanni Zini to date.

Jamie Vardy has helped Cremonese solidify Serie A position

Vardy's move to Italy was confirmed on Deadline Day in September, with the former Three Lions forward making his debut for Cremonese through a 31-minute substitute cameo against Hellas Verona in a goalless draw on September 15th, days after he was officially unveiled as a 'Grigiorossi' player.

As a player who has never been too far away from headlines, the striker's stint in Europe gained immediate attention when a journalist questioned his motivation after the transfer agreement was struck.

“You must be one of the doubters," Vardy responded.

“You’re one that I’ll have to prove wrong. Listen, for me, age is just a number."

Vardy's first goal for the club came a handful of weeks later in a 1-1 draw against Atalanta on October, before scoring in defeat against Juventus on November 1st.

Despite only scoring once in the month, Vardy would win Serie A's official Player of the Month despite his new employers losing each of their three encounters, before scoring a double in a crucial 3-1 success over Bologna.

Given his social media presence, there have been a handful of personal updates from the experienced figure, with the last of those celebrating his colleagues' efforts in a respectable 0-0 draw at Lazio on December 20.

Heading into the New Year, Cremonese have established a comfortable distance between themselves and the relegation zone, whilst Vardy will hope to make even more of an impact in the coming weeks.

Jamie Vardy will feel vindicated in his Leicester City exit call

Despite the status which he now holds at the King Power, Leicester's inconsistent opening to the current season may give Vardy plenty of reason to believe he made the right decision to depart on somewhat strong terms from a personal perspective.

However, it will certainly not give him any pleasure when looking at the Championship table at present, with the Foxes unable to trouble the promotion race in any form of late, whilst his boyhood club, Sheffield Wednesday, are League One-bound due to an 18-point deduction of their own.

You can only imagine how better off Leicester would be if Vardy was leading the line in the Championship irrespective of his age - Marti Cifuentes will be absolutely gutted that he doesn't have the ex-England international in his squad.