Jamie Vardy has been a consistent performer for Leicester (Getty Images)
Claude Puel chose to have Vardy on the bench for the game against West Ham even though the former England international had declared himself fit to play. Vardy was suffering from a stomach illness against Arsenal and Leicester had to finish the game with ten men after he left the field.
As the reports suggest, the situation has alerted Everton who have maintained a long-standing interest in the pacy and prolific striker and the Toffees are plotting a £25million bid in January to prise him away from the King Power Stadium.
Everton have had a lukewarm start to their Premier League campaign. With four wins from their first ten games, Marco Silva’s men sit 9th in the standings with 15 points. The Toffees crumbled to yet another defeat at the hands of Manchester United on Sunday and they have another tricky fixture coming up at home against Brighton.
Having played some aesthetic free-flowing football under their new manager, Everton have scored 16 goals from ten games, which is a decent scoring record as far as their position in the standings is concerned. However, something that should bother Marco Silva is the lack of goals from centre-forward Cenk Tosun. The Turk has only scored twice in the Premier League this term and has failed to live up to huge money that Everton had paid for him in January.
The failure of Cenk Tosun has forced Silva to use Richarlison as the spearhead of the attack. Bernard has started the last few games down the left with Theo Walcott down the right. Gylfi Sigurdsson has played a crucial role as a central attacking midfielder, playing the role of a supporting striker at times to cover for the lack of a proper centre-forward in the eleven.
As a matter of fact, Sigurdsson has scored five goals this season, just ahead of Richarlison who has scored four. Walcott has been a bit erratic and inconsistent but has contributed with a couple of goals and assists.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored two crucial goals for Everton in the Premier League this season. The 21-year-old scored the equaliser against Huddersfield and came off the bench to break the deadlock against Crystal Palace. However, he is still in the developmental stage of his career and Everton cannot rely on him to deliver the goods each and every week.
Suffice to say, Everton need a centre-forward who can score at least 15-20 goals in a season. Currently, they seem to have no players in their squad who seem to fit that description.
And that is exactly the reason why Jamie Vardy can be such a great signing for the Toffees. Even at 31, his fitness levels are right up there with the very best and he still seems to score goals for fun. In fact, he is one of the best strikers in the Premier League and will be a perfect fit for any top club in the Premier League.
There are very few strikers in the top flight who are as pacy and prolific as Vardy. His most impressive attribute is the ability to time his runs perfectly to get on the end of through balls and crosses. Blessed with a wonderful technique for a centre-forward, the 31-year-old uses his instincts and awareness to spearhead the attack.
Vardy is a wonderful athlete and uses his pace to chase down long balls played from the midfield. A lively presence in the final third, he seldom runs out of steam and uses his high energy levels to press the opposition’s backline.
Furthermore, he is a striker blessed with good physicality and aerial prowess, making him a potent threat from set-pieces.
Vardy scored as many as 24 goals during the 2015-16 season when Leicester won the Premier League and had another successful season last time around where he racked up 20 goals.
Hence, Jamie Vardy is a striker with immense pedigree and Everton should not hesitate to splash a huge sum in January to lure him away from Leicester City. He definitely has the ability to propel the Toffees to Europe next season.