Why Vardy no longer plays for England & could he be called up for Euro 2021?
Vardy #Vardy
Jamie Vardy has been one of the standout attacking players in the Premier League this season for Leicester.
Vardy was touted as a potential replacement in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2020 when Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford were both currently injured at the time.
However, with the Euros now postponed until 2021, Kane and Rashford will be fit again – but there now still appears little prospect of Vardy making the squad for Euro 2021.
Why doesn’t Jamie Vardy play for England anymore?
Vardy stepped aside from the England team in August 2018, after featuring as a bit-part player during the Three Lions’ run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.
He told Southgate he no longer wanted to be considered for selection unless he was really needed.
“To be honest with you, this has been on my mind for a while,” he told the Guardian at the time.
“I’m not getting any younger and you can see, to be fair to the gaffer, he wants to make it more youthful, which obviously had its benefits during the World Cup – we got to the semi-finals and finished fourth, which is equal to the furthest we have ever been on foreign soil.
“So, I just said to Gareth that I think it’s probably best from now on, especially with the way he wants to go, to bring youngsters in who he thinks have got the ability and start nurturing them into international football.”
Could Vardy come out of international retirement for Euro 2021?
While Vardy said he no longer wanted to be considered for selection, he did suggest he could return to the squad if he was needed due to an injury crisis.
The long-term injuries to Kane and Rashford would have fit the bill, but these are no longer be relevant – and both players had said they were aiming to make the squad anyway.
Asked recently by Sky Sports if he could return for the Euros, Vardy said: “Who knows? Gareth and I were both agreed that the door would still be open for whatever reason and then we would sit down and have a talk about it [if needed].
“We’ve not had the chat or anything yet and nothing has been spoken about.
“The lads (Kane and Rashford) are out injured, but they’re looking to be back in time. So only time will tell.”
Who will be England’s strikers for Euro 2021?
Aside from Kane, Rashford and Vardy, England have a number of options to lead the line – and all are set to be given more time to impress once club football resumes.
Early in the season, Tammy Abraham would have been the favourite to do so.
Abraham scored 10 goals in his first 12 Premier League appearances for Chelsea, and has continued his form this current season.
If England are looking for a tall striker in the mould of Kane, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the man in form.
Th forward has looked a player transformed under Carlo Ancelotti as Everton continue to fight for a spot in the top four.
If more club football is played before the Euros due to the postponement, Calvert-Lewin’s relative youth could be a point in his favour as he continues to develop under Ancelotti.
However, he is lagging behind the seasonal goal tally of Southampton’s Danny Ings.
Ings is enjoying his most prolific campaign since 2014-15, but his only senior international cap was in 2015.
Callum Wilson of Bournemouth has featured on four occasions since his debut in 2018.
The delay could also play into the hands of Mason Greenwood.
Greenwood has generally impressed when given opportunities to play and will be hoping such chances keep coming under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.