Derby County, Wrexham AFC & Stoke City must react to new West Ham, Jamie Vardy update | OneFootball

Football League World summarises why Derby County, Wrexham and Stoke City should all be on red alert to West Ham's pursuit of Jamie Vardy this summer

Jamie Vardy is poised to be on the move once again this summer and, with West Ham registering an interest in bringing the Leicester City legend back to the EFL, Football League World has taken a look at three other Championship clubs who should consider joining the race in the remainder of this month's transfer window.

Now aged 39, Vardy represents a free agent for the second successive summer after departing Cremonese at the end of his one-year contract with the recently-relegated Serie B outfit, having returned seven goals from 29 Italian top-flight appearances throughout the 2025/26 campaign.

As per recent reports, West Ham have enquired about Vardy's services as the veteran forward mulls over his options on the table, with no decision expected to be imminent quite just yet.

Vardy has already played down talk of an emotional reunion at Leicester, where, of course, he retains legendary status to this day. The ex-England international also ruled out any possibility of returning to boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday, who, much like the Foxes, are heading into the 2026/27 League One campaign with newfound optimism but won't be adding one of the most prolific Premier League frontmen of the last decade to their ranks.

With that in mind, Football League World has taken a look at THREE second-tier outfits who should look to rival West Ham in an effort to land Vardy's signature in the coming days and weeks.

Derby County

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Leicester fans may wince at the thought, but a move to Derby County would make a great deal of sense for Vardy if he is intent on returning to the Championship after twice helping Leicester to the second-tier title.

Derby's location in the heart of the East Midlands ticks a geographical box for Vardy, who is all-too-familiar with the area having spent 13 years with the Foxes, yet that's not all.

John Eustace's outfit narrowly missed out on a play-off finish last time out, and will fancy their chances heading into the 46-year-old's second full campaign in charge at Pride Park with the division's expansion to a top-eight opening that promotion door an extra bit wider.

The expectations at Derby are considerably higher these days and attracting a player of Vardy's calibre would reflect that growing ambition, and though Turki Alalshikh's withdrawn investment into the club would hardly help the Rams to meet what one can reasonably assume to be some rather handsome financial demands, David Clowes has armed Eustace with strong backing in recent windows.

What's more, Eustace may well remain in search of additional striking options to complement Carlton Morris until the talented Patrick Agyemang returns from his long-term injury absence around the turn of the year.

In the meantime, then, Vardy's wily expertise and evergreen goalscoring touch could ease the burden on Morris' shoulders and represent an intriguing short-term option for the Rams as they pursue a long-awaited Premier League return.

Wrexham

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Wrexham are making waves once again in this summer's window as Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac continue to bankroll the upwardly-mobile Welsh outifit ever closer to the top-flight, although Phil Parkinson is missing a real marquee signing to reflect the Red Dragons' 'Hollywood' status - and Vardy would be that man, make no mistake about it.

Whether further forward additions are actually required at the Stok Cae Ras is another matter entirely, and there's a strong case to be made that Parkinson needs to trim his options above all else as the likes of Bailey Cadamarteri, Ryan Hardie and, to a lesser extent, Sam Smith, all struggle for regular game-time behind talismanic frontman Kieffer Moore.

Vardy, however, is a different kettle of fish, and while his on-pitch influence could still usurp that of Wrexham's existing squad depth candidates, the renowned goal-getter's pedigree and profile away from the field aligns with the club's commercial growth under Reynolds and Mac.

Only in May did Vardy release his own feature-length Netflix documentary - Untold UK: Jamie Vardy - and with the Red Dragons' 'Welcome to Wrexham' documentary firmly in mind, it would be no shock to see Reynolds and Mac stake a punchy claim to get the forward on their own red carpet.

Wrexham, perhaps rather unsurprisingly, have previously been linked with Vardy, and if he is carefully assessing clubs in the Championship, few prospects could be more attractive than a move to North Wales for reasons that also extend beyond the pitch - as well as on it.

Stoke City

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It's more left-field, but in keeping with the factors of geographical suitability, club ambition and financial muscle, even Stoke City should consider throwing their name into the hat.

The Potteries may not be quite as close to Vardy's familiar Leicestershire surroundings as Derby, for example, but it's hardly a million miles away either. It's much closer than Lombardy, that's for sure, though he won't be deciding his next destination on the sheer basis of geography either.

Stoke's ambition and - in particular - expenditure cannot be doubted, even if the club's lack of cohesion, direction and philosophy has helped to squander large transfer fees in years gone by and keep the Staffordshire outfit in incessant mid-table mediocrity for close to a decade after dropping out of the Premier League in 2018.

The Potters have been splashing the cash yet again this summer and turned heads with the £10 million capture of Ethan Galbraith from Swansea City, with further big-money additions expected to make their way into Mark Robins' talented yet inconsistent squad before the window is up.

There's money to be spent at Stoke, and could Robins think of many better ways to do exactly that than pulling out a few stops to get one of English football's most revered bagsmen to the Potteries for one last hurrah in the Championship?

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Stoke are sorely lacking in firepower and will need to address that in the remaining weeks if they are to finally escape the lower reaches of the second-tier and contend for promotion, with wing duo Sorba Thomas and Million Manhoef the only members of Robins' side to have scored more than five league goals last time out.

Vardy, then, could find a final stage to be the main man at Stoke, as opposed to being a mere glamour signing elsewhere, and the Potters' mismatch spending in recent years shows how much worse they could really do.