Vardy Hailed As Premier League Icon Ahead Of 10th Leicester Anniversary

Vardy joined the Foxes from Fleetwood Town in the summer of 2012 and has played an instrumental role in helping them become an established Premier League side.

The 35-year-old helped Leicester secure promotion to the Premier League in 2014 and has scored 132 goals in 268 top flight matches, becoming the 14th top scoring Premier League player of all-time.

Vardy's achievements at Leicester include scoring 24 goals to help them win an unlikely Premier League title in the 2015/2016 season, reaching the Champions League quarterfinals with the Foxes and lifting last season's FA Cup.

Rodgers has been impressed with Vardy's journey to the top and has lavished praise on the evergreen forward.

Vardy also won 26 caps for the England national team, scoring seven goals, and played at EURO 2016 and 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where the Three Lions reached the semi-finals before calling time on his international career.

"I think he's a real icon of Leicester and of the league," said Rodgers.

"I think his journey, coming into professional football at 25 and scoring his first Premier League goal at 27, to go on and score the goals he has and to have the impact he has had, he is such a unique player," added Rodgers.

"We've seen it before with other players like Ian Wright coming through and playing at the highest level. But Jamie's story, from playing FA Cup qualifiers to going on to win the FA Cup and win the Premier League, to playing in the Champions League, he really is a great of this football club but also the Premier League.

"You put him up there with the top strikers."