Jamie Vardy next club odds emerge as shock English side lead race to sign Cremonese star
Jamie Vardy is odds-on to join a surprise English club following Cremonese's relegation to Serie B on Sunday.
Cremonese needed to beat Como on the final day of the season, and for relegation rivals Lecce to fail to beat Genoa, in order to avoid an immediate return to the second tier.
But neither of those outcomes happened, with Lecce securing a 1-0 home win to secure their spot in Serie A for another season.
It was a calamitous afternoon for Cremonese, who lost 4-1 at home and managed to have three of their players sent off in the space of one minute during the second half.
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Several players complained about a contentious penalty given to Como on 71 minutes, with Milan Djuric, Alberto Grassi and David Okereke all shown straight red cards by the referee.
They ended the game with nine players, rather than eight, as Djuric was warming up on the sidelines as a substitute when the incidents occurred.
Cremonese were 2-1 down at the time and the decisions effectively sealed their fate, with Lucas Da Cunha converting the resulting penalty before later making it 4-1.
Vardy was therefore unable to keep his new club in Serie A after joining them from Leicester in the summer, but did contribute by scoring seven goals in 29 appearances.
He netted crucial strikes in wins over Udinese and Pisa that gave Cremonese hope of staying in the top flight, but it ultimately wasn't to be.
Vardy signed a one-year contract with the Italian club with the option of a further year but, according to Fabrizio Romano, he will not be playing in Serie B next season and will leave as a free agent.
In an interview with SPORTbible earlier this month, Vardy indicated he has no plans to retire just yet.
"While my legs are still saying they're fine, I'll carry on," he said.
"But there will come a time when the legs say 'this ain't happening anymore' and that's when I definitely need to call it quits."
But where could the 39-year-old go next?
Vardy linked with historic English transfer
BettingLounge have priced up Sheffield Wednesday as the odds-on 8/13 favourites to sign Vardy as a free agent.
The striker was born in Sheffield and was on the books at Wednesday as a teenager, but he was released at the age of 16 and without making a professional appearance.
Wednesday will play in League One next season, having spent most of the current campaign under administration.
They were deducted a total of 18 points across the season under manager Henrik Pedersen, and only won two of their 46 matches with a threadbare squad.
Owner Dejphon Chansiri, who placed the club into administration in October, was heavily criticised by fans over his running of the club.
But Chansiri is now out, with the club sold to US-based consortium Arise Capital Partners LLC earlier this month.
That will finally allow Wednesday to fully operate in the transfer market, having been bound by significant EFL restrictions last season.
They will need to abide by the EFL's new Squad Cost Ratio system, which limits transfer and wage spending to 85 per cent of a club's total revenue, but may see Vardy as a marquee acquisition to get the new ownership off to the ideal start.
Vardy is priced at evens, meanwhile, to make a fairytale return to Leicester, who are also in League One after another torrid season saw them relegated from the Championship.
Rangers, who are managed by ex-Wednesday boss Danny Rohl, are priced at 2/1 to bring Vardy to Ibrox.
Celtic, currently managed by Martin O'Neill, are fourth favourites to sign Vardy at 11/4, while a high-profile move to Wrexham is rated at 8/1.
The striker was linked with a move to Wrexham last summer but it is unclear as to how concrete the Welsh club's interest was upon their promotion to the Championship.
The Red Dragons finished in seventh place in the second tier this season under Phil Parkinson, combining a transfer policy of signing younger players with signing more experienced names that have been there and done it all in English football.
Whether Vardy falls into that second category this summer remains to be seen.
He is 28/1 to make a return to the Premier League with either newly-promoted Ipswich or Hull.
Jamie Vardy next club odds
Sheffield Wednesday - 8/13
Leicester - Evens
Rangers - 2/1
Celtic - 11/4
Wrexham - 8/1
West Ham - 10/1
Birmingham - 12/1
Millwall - 14/1
Burnley - 16/1
Hearts - 18/1
Ipswich - 28/1
Hull - 28/1
West Brom - 33/1
Topics: Jamie Vardy, Leicester City, Serie A
Ryan Smart