Jamie Vardy lined up for return to English football as surprise club enter race to sign him as free agent

Jamie Vardy is reportedly being lined up for a return to English football with a surprise club, over a month since he officially departed Italian side Cremonese as a free agent.

Vardy left Cremonese at the end of June after scoring seven goals in 29 appearances for the club.

He could help them avoid the drop as they were relegated from Serie A on the final day of the season.

The 39-year-old is not retiring and will continue playing professional football for at least another season.

He was quickly linked with a return to boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday, who are now playing in League One following relegation from the Championship last season.

The Owls ended the 2025/26 campaign with exactly zero points, having received a total 18-point deduction after the club entered administration under owner Dejphon Chansiri before then failing to meet payment obligations.

The club has since been sold to a US consortium, who have ambitious plans for the future.

But Vardy effectively ruled out a move back to Sheffield on his podcast, 'Jamie Vardy's Having A Party', telling co-host Manish Bhasin: "In short, no. It's one of those things. I've always said that, once I was let go, then that chapter was kind of shut. That's just me, that's how I am. It wasn't meant to be, so it's never meant to be."

He was spotted having medical checks at the training ground of Leicester City, who are now also in League One, but also made clear that he would be rejoining the club he helped to win a historic Premier League title in 2016.

New club enter Jamie Vardy transfer pursuit

Instead, according to Sky Sports News, it is now Championship side West Ham who have expressed interest in signing the striker this summer.

They report that the Hammers are 'keeping an eye' on Vardy's situation, with manager Nuno Espirito Santo keen to recruit another centre forward before the transfer window closes.

Their interest has come as something of a surprise, given that West Ham have been heavily linked with a move for former Tottenham striker Troy Parrott, who now plays for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, in the past week.

They also still have strikers Pablo and Taty Castellanos, who signed for the club while they were in the Premier League for a combined fee of around £45 million, on their books. Both Pablo and Castellanos started West Ham's 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Portsmouth on Saturday.

And they also have Jarrod Bowen to call upon as another centre forward option after the Hammers captain committed his future to the club by signing a revised new contract.

READ MORE: Jarrod Bowen signs rarely-seen contract at West Ham to end transfer speculation

Nuno told reporters ahead of the Carabao Cup victory that he and his scouting team had already identified the names of players that they want to sign this summer - but wanted to 'make sure we get it right' in terms of securing the signings.

"We don't have much time, but we don't want to make mistakes," the Portuguese said. "It's crucial the players who come in are right, so we are taking our time to make sure we get it right.

"We identify the targets, we know the profiles and the names, so we let the club do their job. I don't want to speak about specific players."