Soccer
Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy did not enjoy his time in Italy, having spent the 2025-26 campaign with Cremonese.
The former England international signed for Cremonese after leaving Leicester following a 13-year stint at the King Power Stadium.
Vardy, who scored seven goals and notched three assists in 29 appearances for Cremonese, could not save the club from being relegated to Serie B.
Having opted not to sign a one-year extension with Cremonese, Vardy has returned home and is now a free agent.
Speaking on his newly-launched ‘Jamie Vardy’s Having a Party’ podcast, the former Premier League Golden Boot winner explained how he found it tough to adapt to life in Serie A.
He said: “Compared to here (England), it’s a lot slower, more defensive.
“Training was just constant: Run, run, run, run. You go into a game and you’re f*****. Like literally, you have nothing else left to give. It’s not just for me, it’s every team.”
Jamie Vardy’s goal won it for Cremonese #UdineseCremonese pic.twitter.com/3OHLfRyiro
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) May 18, 2026
The 39-year-old was also not pleased with the influence of others in the dressing room.
He added: “So how it works is that the sporting director has a say in everything. Everything. It’s mental.
“So in my head, I’m like ‘Well, just keep it now, do exactly the same’. Then we were playing Pisa the week after. The sporting director says ‘it’s a massive game, massive game’. I’m like ‘well, they’re all massive, no game’s any different’. ‘No, no, but this one’s big’.
“They trained us every single day, played Pisa, and lost.”
Vardy is happy to be back on home soil, and that the move to Italy was a struggle for his family.
The 2015-16 Premier League champion said: “We’d already moved the kids back, it was a struggle, really was.”
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