How Jamie Vardy's 'Appalling' Diet is Adding Spice to Serie A

Italian football has seen its fair share of larger-than-life characters over the years, but few compare to Jamie Vardy – a man who has experienced it all across his unconventional 19-year playing career.

Vardy, who started his senior career at Stocksbridge Park Steels after being released by boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday, climbed the leagues with Halifax and Fleetwood before earning a well-earned break at Leicester City.

And we all know the rest. A decade after leaving Stocksbridge behind and Vardy became the oldest player to win the Premier League's Golden Boot award after finishing that title-winning campaign with 23 goals to his name.

That fairytale spell with Leicester ended in September, when he swapped the King Power for the 16,000-capacity Stadio Giovanni Zini, the home of Serie A outfit Cremonese.

And on October 25, just weeks after stating that age was just a number, Vardy scored his first goal for Davide Nicola's side in a 1-1 draw against Atalanta before celebrating with an unprecedented backflip.

The experienced striker is still hungry to prove himself. In fact, after one reporter claimed people in Italy are "a little bit sceptical" about players who are approaching their 40th birthday, Vardy responded in style.

"You must be one of the doubters," the 38-year-old said. "You're one that I'll have to prove wrong."

So, how have fans in Italy responded to Vardy's start to life at Cremonese? Italian football journalist and broadcaster Nima Tavallaey Roodsari, who co-hosts The Italian Football Podcast, gave us an insight.

How have Italian fans generally reacted to Vardy’s start to life at Cremonese?

"How have Italian fans generally reacted? Well, he hasn’t played too much, but he did score his first goal — a good goal — and people have been very excited.

"He’s a bit of a cult figure, isn’t he? The season when he won the Premier League with Leicester, the chant 'bring your vodka and your Charlie', and 'chat s***, get banged' – all of that.

"As I say, he’s a cult hero, especially given how he has fought his way up the leagues. Jamie has achieved so much through hard work. He's established a very good career for himself. People respect that.

"He’s not seen as a meme or anything like that. It’s been very positive. People generally like it."

How do Italian fans feel about his diet/habits? We know he loves a Red Bull!

"His unusual diets and habits — the drinking of the Red Bulls and all that — add to his persona. People don’t think he’s unprofessional or anything, but they do consider his signing fun... a bit of spice.

"People are really happy to have him in Serie A. It’s nothing unusual.

"I don't want to mean, but Italians are generally very aware of the unusual — and, in their view, appalling — eating and drinking habits of British people generally. This kind of just confirms that stereotype among Italians!"

Is there anything he’s done since moving to Italy that has surprised fans/local press/the media?

"I can't say anyone has been surprised. They were curious to see what condition he was in, what he could offer. So far, he hasn’t played much, but he has scored a goal.

"When he was announced in the Violin Museum, that was a very interesting thing that Cremonese did, and it went down really well. It was a smart move. Everyone was pretty much aware of his background and story.

"They even asked him about some of these more fun things during his presentation. Nothing surprising as such."

Do you think he can still play at the highest level?

"In terms of playing level — do I think he’s good enough to play for any of the top seven sides in Serie A — teams that play in the Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League? Maybe Conference League level, but not higher than that.

"I think he understands that, and joining Cremonese proves that point. He’s good enough to play in Serie A if he can stay fit. He’s got one or two seasons where he could do well at a club like Cremonese, who, lest we forget, are in eighth position right now, although he hasn’t played much yet.

"He can offer Cremonese and Davide Nicola — the Cremonese manager — something they don’t have: a threat down the middle with his directness and explosive acceleration. It’s not what it was at Leicester, but it’s still there. He offers a threat behind the backline, and Cremonese play a counterattacking style.

"So I think he’s got a role to play for one or two seasons in Serie A."

How many goals can you see him scoring across the 2025-26 season?

"Considering how Cremonese play — a counterattacking side, defensively solid, attacking the space behind the opposition — if he can stay fit and be a super sub or start a few games, I think he could score anywhere between five and ten goals.

"If they give him penalty-taking duties — he’s not the first-choice penalty taker, but still — he could absolutely get five to ten goals in Serie A. The key is keeping him fit and getting him to match fitness. That’s what they’re focused on right now, and the international breaks will likely help with that.

"If he can stay fit, I can see him scoring double digits, absolutely."

Jamie Vardy has previously opened up about his pre-match diet and routine

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports as part of their 'Making it Pro' feature, the former England international revealed that he still opts for a crazy caffeine fix before games.

"I wake up in the morning and then [have a] Red Bull. Literally I get out of bed, get the kids up and downstairs, get their breakfast sorted and then I'm straight into the Red Bull," he said back in 2020.

"After that we meet at the stadium for pre-match and while I'm getting changed I'll have a coffee - it's better than taking ProPlus. Red Bull, coffee and then when we get over to the pre-match lounge, I'll have my cheese and ham omelette with another can of Red Bull."

Asked how his stomach is able to process and deal with the caffeine coming his way, Vardy replied: "I think when you've done it for so many years I think it just gets used to it, it's not an issue whatsoever. It's one of them things, it's not going to work for everyone.

"To be fair, I've probably cut back because I'm only on a little can of Red Bull now whereas before when I was at Fleetwood I used to have the big cans of Monster - I used to have two of them as well."

Back in 2021, Vardy's former Leicester teammate, Ritchie De Laet, opened up about the time Vardy finished off a bottle of port before breaking a Premier League record.

“The night before a game, Jamie drinks pints and only eats pizza," he told Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad.

“For example, when he beat Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in 11 consecutive games; the night before, the bus driver bought us a bottle of port. We hid it in our hotel room. I had a glass, and Jamie made sure to finish the rest of the bottle”.