Jamie Vardy takes aim at Serie A
Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy revealed he did not enjoy his time in Italy, having spent the 2025-2026 campaign with Cremonese.
The former England international signed for Cremonese after a 13-year stint at Leicester, which he helped pilot to an extraordinary Premier League title in 2016.
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.
"Compared to here (England), it’s a lot slower, more defensive," Vardy said. "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."
The 39 year-old was also not pleased with the influence of others in the dressing room.
"So how it works is that the sporting director has a say in everything," Vardy said. "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 2015-2016 Premier League champion said: "We'd already moved the kids back, it was a struggle, really was."
