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Arsenal ‘will pay the full release clause’ – boss confirms move for £20m hitman

By on June 15, 2016

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri has been quoted in the Mirror as confirming that Arsenal have agreed to pay Jamie Vardy’s release clause but insists the striker is yet to decide on the move.

Vardy-to-Arsenal has been one of the transfer sagas of the summer so far after the newspapers reported earlier this month that we’d made a formal move to try and lure the striker away from the King Power.

The Daily Mail claimed that the 29-year-old had held face-to-face talks with Arsene Wenger where he verbally agreed a three-year deal worth around £120,000-a-week after we’d agreed to trigger his £20m release clause.

It looked like Vardy was set to follow Granit Xhaka in joining Arsenal, however, the move stalled as the striker flew out with the England squad for Euro 2016 having failed to complete the proposed deal.

It seems Leicester made a last ditch attempt to persuade Vardy to remain at the club after offering him an improved four-year deal and the striker decided not to make a decision over his future until after the European Championships.

Until now, everything has been ‘paper talk’ but now we’ve had it all confirmed by Ranieri after the Leicester boss told reporters that Arsenal have indeed agreed to pay Vardy’s release clause but the player is yet to decide whether to accept the move or stay at the King Power.

Ranieri is quoted as saying by the Mirror:

“We want to keep him, Arsenal have said they will pay the full release clause, but he hasn’t accepted yet. He gets the last word.”

Some fans/pundits have suggested that Vardy has already decided to join Arsenal but just didn’t have time to complete the move before the Euro’s so is saving him and his family grief by making out he’s still contemplating the move, while the Evening Standard reported last week that Vardy has told England team mates that he’s ‘80%’ likely to remain at Leicester.

The truth is, nobody really knows what’s going on and it seems from Ranieir’s comments, the striker hasn’t informed Leicester of any decision yet so we have to assume he’s still mulling things over.

I’ve said many times I’m not bothered either way whether we sign Vardy or not. Sure, he scored 24 goals last season, has pace and would offer us something different in attack next year.

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However, he’s also 29 and has only proven himself for one season in a system that was tailored made to his strengthens and one that is nothing like Arsenal play, so I have my doubts over whether he’ll fit in to our style of play.

The problem is, there is a real shortage of strikers around right now, especially at £20m, so you can see why Wenger is taking a gamble on Vardy.