Leicester City insert £30m release clause in Manchester United target Jamie Vardy's contract

Jamie Vardy could yet leave Leicester City in the summer despite signing a lucrative new three-and-a-half-year deal with the club earlier in the year following interest from a number of clubs in the English top-flight. The Premier League's top marksman has been the leader in the Foxes charge for the title this season, and the club moved to tie him down to a new deal with improved terms to ward off the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

According to The Times, the club sanctioned a lucrative £80,000-a-week ($113,000) deal to convince him to remain at the club for the foreseeable future after the Red Devils and reigning champions Chelsea were linked with a January move for the forward. He dashed interested clubs' hopes by signing the new deal until 2019, but the report claims that the King Power Stadium outfit have inserted a £30m ($42.5m) release clause in the striker's contract allowing clubs to snatch him in the summer.

The England international, who was signed for £1m ($1.4m) from Conference Premier side Fleetwood Town, has scored 19 league goals this season, while also breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy's long standing record of scoring in 10 consecutive league games, when he scored for the 11<sup>th straight time against United. The Foxes are finally being considered one of the favourites for the Premier League title as they sit five points ahead of second placed Tottenham Hotspur and eight points ahead of Arsenal.

The report claims that despite the release clause, the striker could hold out on a move to a bigger club as Leicester City are now virtually guaranteed a place in the Champions League next season and with the 20-time English champions and Chelsea facing the prospect of missing out on the top four, he could choose to remain with Claudio Ranieri's side and play in the elite European competition for the first time.

Tottenham have been credited with interest and with the White Hart Lane outfit also almost certain of a place in Europe, they could tempt the striker to join Mauricio Pochettino's revolution and form a formidable partnership with his Three Lions counterpart Harry Kane. The £30m fee, however, could put off many clubs as Vardy will turn 30 midway through next season, which will represent a gamble in the long run.