Jamie Vardy signs contract extension with Leicester City

Despite Arsenal's activation of Jamie Vardy's release clause, the English international has extended his contract with Leicester City and will not be joining Arsenal, according to a statement Leicester released this morning.

Leicester City have today (Thursday) agreed with the representatives of Jamie Vardy to extend the England international’s contract with the Premier League champions for a further four years.

Both parties hope that this announcement will end recent speculation regarding Jamie’s future and confirm his long term commitment to Leicester City Football Club.

Jamie will continue to focus all of his efforts on trying to achieve success with the England team at the European Championships in France.

There will be no further comment from either the Club or the player on this matter until the conclusion of the tournament.

Despite the assuredly incoming deluge of HOT TAEKS about how Arsenal couldn't seal the deal with Vardy, his decision has (in my opinion) more to do with the striker himself than with Arsenal. This decision says more (again in my opinion) about Vardy's willingness to strike out in a new direction and potentially compete with someone like Olivier Giroud for minutes so late in his career, rather than remaining at a club where he already has established himself as the main man.

Arsenal can close the book on this chapter and now must move on to other targets. Watch this space for updates and news.