Leicester City star Jamie Vardy was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal after helping the Foxes to win their maiden Premier League title by scoring 24 goals. He came agonisingly close to joining the Gunners after Arsene Wenger decided to meet his £20m release clause during the summer. However, he left one and all surprised after opting to stay with the Premier League champions.

The forward has finally revealed the reason for his decision. In his new autobiography, serialised by The Sun, Vardy said that he is happy with the outcome.

“With people like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil creating chances, Arsenal felt they could benefit me as much as I could them,” Vardy said.

“But I also thought about the tactical aspect.

“You look at Arsenal’s style of play and they don’t get the ball forward quickly in the same way Leicester do for those runs I like to make in behind the defence.”

Much was made of whether Vardy could emulate his Foxes form at the Emirates, but the striker believes he definitely would have established himself as Arsenal’s top striker.

He added: “One thing that didn’t worry me was the idea that I wouldn’t be the ‘main man’ at Arsenal.

“Every time I’ve moved, I’ve managed to meet the challenge in front of me.

“We even looked at new schools for the children, but I got to the stage where I felt with my heart and head that I wanted to stay at Leicester.”

The Leicester star revealed that loyalty was never a factor for the failed deal and said that he wanted the club to build on their brilliant success.

“It wasn’t to do with ‘loyalty’ or how I feel about my team-mates.

“Players always come and go. It was more a case of seeing Leicester as a club that wanted to build on what we achieved with the title and I want to be part of that.”

Vardy has not started the season like the last one but he has still netted a couple of goals in six league games. On the other hand, Arsenal bought Lucas Perez from Deportivo La Coruna after failing to buy Vardy.