‘It Stands Alone’ - Jamie Carragher Names The Greatest Transfer In Football History
Liverpool legend picks £1 million move as best-every buy.
Jamie Carragher named his choice as the greatest signing ever made before stating there may "never" be a better transfer.
The Liverpool legend has made the claim about Jamie Vardy's £1 million move to Leicester City in 2012.
It was a record fee paid for a non-league player, but it's safe to say Vardy has repaid it several times over. He's won a Golden Boot, a Premier League Player of the Season award and - of course - the Premier League title itself with the club. All on a diet of Red Bull and Skittle vodka (possibly).
Many Leicester fans already name him the club's greatest ever player - and he's still flying at age 34, with 13 goals in 22 games this season.
"There may never be a better transfer than Vardy's from Fleetwood Town to Leicester - not just in the Premier League era, but in football history," Carragher explained in his column for the Telegraph.
"I am always reluctant to definitively declare anyone or anything is 'the best ever'. It can only be a matter of opinion. But if you were compiling a list of the greatest, most influential signings and judging it on value for money, who eclipses Vardy?"
While there have been numerous other brilliant buys that have altered the history of a club, Carragher explains that while Vardy's move unique is that it involved a Championship side buying a totally unknown 25-year-old striker from the Conference.
Few would have imagined at the time that - after overcoming a slow start to his Leicester career - Vardy would end up an England international striker with 114 Premier League goals and counting.
"We can talk about many transfers which changed the course of Premier League history, such as Eric Cantona joining Manchester United, Dennis Bergkamp to Arsenal, Yaya Toure or David Silva moving to Manchester City, or Virgil van Dijk joining Liverpool," added Carragher.
"They were established, international players and household names heading to clubs already building towards titles - the finishing touch to emerging teams.
"The Vardy story stands alone in that he joined Leicester for £1 million directly from non-league football and defied expectations.
"Whenever the story of English football is told to future generations, they will talk about Leicester before and after Vardy's arrival."
Can you name a better transfer than Vardy's £1 million move to Leicester? Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: jamie vardy, Transfers, Leicester, Jamie Carragher
Jack Kenmare