Vardy

By Nigel Philips

Jamie Vardy has retired from the England national team, but says he may come back whenever the Three Lions are hit with injuries and his services are needed.

The Guardian reports that the Leicester City forward has informed England Manager, Gareth Southgate, of his decision and the latter, is willing to recall him whenever necessary.

Vardy, who has won 26 caps for England, cited his age, lack of games and Manager, Gareth Southgate's, plan of building a youthful Three Lions side as some of his reasons.

“To be honest with you, this has been on my mind for a while,” Vardy is said to have told the Guardian. “I’m not getting any younger and you can see, to be fair to the gaffer, he wants to make it more youthful, which obviously had its benefits during the World Cup and got to the semi-finals and finished fourth."

“I just said to Gareth that I think it’s probably best from now on, especially with the way he wants to go, to bring youngsters in, who he thinks, have the ability and start nurturing them into international football.”

“When you get selected, you want to be playing. If you’re playing week in, week out for your club, you want to be going to England to play as well. And if it’s not happening, then for me personally now, at this age, it’s better to be at home, spending that time with my family and training with my club, preparing for the next game after the international break.”

“I explained it all to Gareth and he was fine with my decision. I mentioned it to him after the World Cup had finished, out in Russia, and then I spoke to him on the phone a couple of weeks ago."

"He let it die down a bit so that I could have a bit more time to think, and then rang me up just to make sure I wasn’t just taking the mickey in Russia. But I hadn’t changed my mind. Gareth said that he felt I still had a lot to offer, and we’ve not shut the door completely. If the worst came to happen and everyone was injured, then obviously I wouldn’t say no.”