Jamie Vardy is leaving Leicester following its relegation from the Premier League, ending the striker's prolific 13-year stay at a team he famously helped to win the English title in 2016 at preseason odds of 5,000-1.
The 38-year-old former England international will depart at the end of the season, Leicester said on Thursday in a statement in which the club described Vardy as its “greatest ever player.”
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FILE - Leicester's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring his side's ninth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Leicester City at St Mary's stadium in Southampton, England Friday, Oct., 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
FILE - Leicester's Jamie Vardy kisses the trophy as Leicester City celebrate becoming the English Premier League soccer champions at King Power stadium in Leicester, England, Saturday, May 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
FILE - Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates after scoring his sides 1st goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham and Leicester City at the London stadium in London, Saturday, April 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
Leicester's Jamie Vardy hugs with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Liverpool at King Power stadium in Leicester, England, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
The announcement came two days after Vardy took to social media to express his “anger and sadness” at a season he called a “total embarrassment,” with Leicester having been consigned to relegation with five matches still to play.
Vardy, who intends to continue playing, will go down as a Premier League great, having scored 143 goals — placing him No. 15 on the competition's all-time list. He once netted in a record 11 straight games in Leicester's improbable title-winning campaign that will be remembered as one of the great underdog stories in sporting history.
“Nine years ago, we did the impossible — we won the Premier League,” Vardy said in a video message on Instagram in which he also recounted winning the FA Cup in 2021 and reaching the Champions League quarterfinals in 2017. “Those memories will last a lifetime.”
Vardy joined Leicester from non-league team Fleetwood Town for 1 million pounds (now $1.33 million) in 2012. An out-and-out center forward, he was something of a throwback — preying on the shoulder of the center back and using his pace and movement to get in behind and delivering a firm finish.
Vardy was often seen chugging an energy drink before going onto the field.
Maybe that was one of the reasons why Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha described Vardy as a “unique” and “special” player.
“He holds a place in the hearts of everyone connected to Leicester City, and he certainly has my deepest respect and affection,” Aiyawatt said. “I am endlessly grateful for everything he has given to this football club.”
Vardy has five games left for Leicester. His final home match will be on May 18 against Ipswich.
Leicester has just 18 points from 33 games and is in next-to-last place.
“My only regret, and I’m devastated about this, is that I’m not saying goodbye on the back of a much better season,” Vardy said. “This isn’t the way I wanted my career here to finish.”
Vardy insisted “this isn’t retirement.”
“I want to keep playing and do what I enjoy most: Scoring goals,” he added. "Hopefully there’s one or two more for Leicester before the end of the season and many more in the future.
“I might be 38 but I’ve still got the desire and ambition to do so much more.”
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FILE - Leicester's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring his side's ninth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Leicester City at St Mary's stadium in Southampton, England Friday, Oct., 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
FILE - Leicester's Jamie Vardy kisses the trophy as Leicester City celebrate becoming the English Premier League soccer champions at King Power stadium in Leicester, England, Saturday, May 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
FILE - Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates after scoring his sides 1st goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham and Leicester City at the London stadium in London, Saturday, April 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
Leicester's Jamie Vardy hugs with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Liverpool at King Power stadium in Leicester, England, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
