Vardy best England striker of his generation - Maresca

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says Leicester City's Jamie Vardy is England's champion striker successful his procreation - amended adjacent than Harry Kane oregon Wayne Rooney.

The Italian is preparing for a reunion with the 37-year-old guardant and his erstwhile nine astatine the King Power Stadium connected Saturday.

When asked astir Vardy, who has started each 10 of Leicester's Premier League matches this season, scoring 4 times, Maresca said: "Vardy is fantastic and radical don't realise however bully helium is.

"I cognize that England has been rather fortunate with strikers, similar Kane, Rooney and galore others, but if you inquire maine helium has been the champion one.

"He tin bash galore things, similar tally successful down and finish, but the champion happening for maine is his unfastened mind.

"Last twelvemonth helium changed the mode helium was playing by dropping in, linking the play and helium inactive wants to learn. But of people helium inactive has the 1 happening that is astir hard to find, which is to people goals.

"He tin beryllium retired for 1 week, without training, and play connected the Saturday oregon Sunday and he's the 1 who scores."

When asked whether his Chelsea forwards are arsenic casual to manage, Maresca added: "It is casual to manager Nico [Jackson] and Christo [Nkunku] also.

"But the biggest quality betwixt Nico, Christo and Jamie is that, with age, you cognize precisely what you request each day, due to the fact that of the experience. When you are young, you don't cognize precisely what you request time by time to get astatine the crippled 100 per cent. That was the large quality betwixt them."

Vardy launched his vocation successful non-league aft getting released by boyhood heroes Sheffield Wednesday, going done spells astatine Stocksbridge Park Steels, Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town earlier joining Leicester successful the Championship successful 2012.

Within 4 seasons, helium famously grabbed the goals arsenic the Foxes apical scorer to assistance the Foxes triumph the Premier League successful improbable circumstances, scoring successful 11 consecutive matches to interruption a grounds acceptable by Ruud van Nistelrooy, winning Premier League and the Football Writers' Association's subordinate of the twelvemonth awards.

Vardy subsequently won the FA Cup successful 2021, but his constricted planetary vocation underwhelmed, scoring 7 times successful 26 games.

He is the oldest subordinate to triumph the Premier League's aureate footwear and has scored the astir goals successful the division, aged implicit 30 (106).

By comparison, Kane has outscored some Vardy and Rooney, becoming the second-top scorer successful Premier League past down Alan Shearer with 213 goals. He joined Bayern Munich astatine the commencement of past play and broke the Bundesliga scoring grounds successful a azygous campaign, netting 36 goals - and 44 successful each competitions.

Kane besides keeps adding to his grounds 69 goals for England, surpassing Rooney's tally of 53 successful March 2023.

But Rooney's nine vocation stands him retired from the different deadly duo, winning 5 Premier League titles, 3 League Cups and a Champions League, FA Cup, Europa League and Fifa Club World Cup. He besides holds Manchester United's all-time scoring grounds with 253 goals successful each competitions.

Current Plymouth manager Rooney besides played arsenic much of a fig 10 passim overmuch of his career, having featured astatine fig nine, connected the helping and successful cardinal midfield. Kane, 31, has mostly been a classical fig 9 up front, but has dropped into a fig 10 presumption successful the build-up to attacks.

At his peak, Vardy was a composed finisher who caused problems with his pace, moving successful down defences and forcing mistakes with his pressing. Despite his age, helium continues to beryllium the first-choice striking enactment astatine Leicester nether Steve Cooper.

There whitethorn beryllium immoderate unease successful the stadium connected Saturday aft Maresca opted to permission Leicester successful the summertime aft winning the Championship rubric successful his lone play astatine the club.

But helium was afloat of respect and affirmative astir the Foxes, though unsure however the supporters volition respond erstwhile they spot him successful the absorption ranks.

"I person nary thought however they are going to person me, but I cognize however I americium going to beryllium with them," added Maresca.

"I volition beryllium thankful to the club, the players and the fans, due to the fact that it was a fantastic season. But I cannot power however they are going to person me."

He spoke of his astonishment - and delight - erstwhile the players arrived astatine his location to observe aft clinching top-flight promotion, describing it arsenic "probably the champion contiguous I got past season".

"When I was a subordinate I was fortunate to triumph things but I ne'er thought to spell to the manager’s house," said the 44-year-old, whose vocation included spells astatine West Brom, Juventus, Sevilla and Palermo.

"I consciousness precise fortunate and it shows the transportation betwixt the players and the staff.

"It showed however the squad was adjacent - the transportation with the players. That they could spell for parties to a antithetic spot yet they each arrived astatine my home.

"It was a fantastic transportation and I volition ever beryllium thankful to them. It was hard to permission for definite due to the fact that determination was a bully transportation successful presumption of quality beings."