Jamie Vardy's Next Chapter: From Cremonese to Burnley

Jamie Vardy’s next chapter was never going to be quiet.

The Premier League title winner walked away from Cremonese in the summer of 2026 after their drop out of Serie A, ending a brief Italian adventure that always felt like a side quest rather than the main story. One season, one relegation, and suddenly one of English football’s great late bloomers was a free agent at 39.

The rumours came fast. Leicester were mentioned, of course. The romantic return. The idea of Vardy dragging the Foxes back up after successive relegations had dumped them in League One carried obvious emotional pull. It would have been a full-circle moment, the club he fired to the title now needing rescuing from the depths.

Vardy didn’t bite. Sentiment stayed in the stands, not in his decision-making. He waited.

Wrexham then entered the conversation, as they tend to these days. The thought of Vardy under the lights at the Racecourse Ground, fronting the next season of “Welcome to Wrexham” alongside a couple of Hollywood owners, felt almost too on-brand for modern football. Social media loved it. So did plenty of neutrals.

But the move that actually landed was a little more old school. Burnley stepped in, backed by a group of investors that includes NFL great JJ Watt, and put a 12‑month deal on the table. No docu-series, no League One nostalgia trip. Just the grind of the Championship and a club in trouble.

Vardy said yes.

So instead of becoming part of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s story, he’ll be trying to score against them.

Wrexham whispers and an Everton what-if

There was something in the Wrexham talk, according to someone who would know. Danny Simpson, Vardy’s former Leicester team-mate, revealed that the links weren’t just social-media fantasy.

Speaking to GOAL courtesy of Free Bets, Simpson said: “I think there was something there. There were a few things that were there. I did speak to him.”

Then he lifted the lid on the move he really wanted to see.

“You know what I wanted? I know it's happened now but I would have liked to have seen him go to Everton. You need a striker, 20 minutes left in a game, coming on for [Thierno] Barry. Anyway, that didn't happen. That's just what I was thinking.”

It’s a striking image: Goodison Park, tight game, Vardy thrown on late to chase chaos. It never materialised, but Simpson’s logic is clear.

“He's still fit, he's still sharp, he's still going to get you goals. There's nothing on him, his weight and stuff. I hope he starts getting more games and getting goals because that's Jamie Vardy. He's always got another story, another chapter.”

Burnley are banking on exactly that.

Turning 40 and joining elite company

Vardy’s deal at Turf Moor runs beyond a milestone that would have retired most strikers years ago. On January 11 he turns 40. At that point, he joins a rare group of outfield players who have kept operating at a high level deep into their late thirties and beyond.

• Cristiano Ronaldo.
• Luka Modric.
• Gianluigi Buffon.
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Different leagues, different positions, same defiance of the clock. Vardy now steps into that conversation, not as a global brand but as a relentless runner who came up the hard way and refuses to stop.

He’s already started to widen his world, dipping into YouTube and Bundesliga match streaming, but Simpson is convinced the boots aren’t ready for the peg.

“I think he has got more in him,” Simpson said. “I think it'll come down to how he's managed with Tuesday and Saturday. I remember when he did that at Leicester, when he got them promoted. He scored 20-plus goals.

“He looks after himself but he needs managing right because it's tough to do that, especially in the Championship. It's up to how the manager manages him. As long as he's still hungry, which he is, he could do another year after.

“He’s also looking at the future and doing his own little bits, which is only right to do by the way. I hope he keeps going because there's only a few of us left from that [Leicester title-winning] team that are still playing.”

Burnley’s struggle, Wrexham’s wobble

Hunger has never been Vardy’s issue. Commitment neither. Wherever he has played, 100 per cent has been the baseline, not the ceiling.

Burnley have only seen a glimpse so far: a 25‑minute cameo off the bench. But they already need him. The Clarets have opened the season in miserable fashion, winless and anchored to the bottom of the Championship table. Confidence is thin. Goals are thinner.

Wrexham, the club that almost signed him, are hardly flying either. Seven points from seven games has cooled the early-season buzz. The storylines are good, the script less so.

Both clubs now head into the international break looking for a reset. Burnley need a spark. Wrexham need a lift.

And somewhere in the middle of it all stands Jamie Vardy, 40 looming, another chapter waiting to be written.