Arsenal target Jamie Vardy wouldn't have had 'a sniff' of the Euro 96 squad after one season - Paul Ince

James Benge12 June 2016

Jamie Vardy’s championship-winning season may have been enough to earn him a spot in England’s Euro 2016 squad but Paul Ince believes the Leicester striker would have needed three or four 20 goal seasons before he could have come close to the Euro 96 setup.

Vardy, a £20m transfer target for Arsenal, scored 24 goals in the Premier League last season to guide Leicester to the Premier League title, a remarkable tale for a 29-year-old who had been playing non-league football as recently as 2012.

England manager Roy Hodgson had already handed Vardy one cap, in a 0-0 friendly draw with Ireland in June 2015, before his remarkable exploits began, even though the striker had managed just five goals in his previous 36 games.

There was never any doubt that Vardy would make the Euro 2016 squad. However Ince is far from convinced that one exceptional season would have been enough to see Terry Venables pick the Leicester man not only ahead of Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Les Ferdinand and a young Robbie Fowler, but also the likes of Peter Beardsley, Chris Armstrong and Ian Wright.

“I think he would have needed at least three or four seasons at his current level to get into our squad,” Ince told Standard Sport. “Think about someone like Ian Wright, he came late but he’d been to Palace and scored goals, then went to Arsenal and scored 25-30 goals a season. And he couldn’t get in the squad.

“The likes of Vardy would have found it really difficult, they wouldn’t have replaced Shearer or Sheringham. Maybe he’d have got on the bench.

“But times have changed, he’s done well for what is expected of England players now, he’s a natural goalscorer. There aren’t many more left like him.

“His rise shows you that it’s never too late, but in our time he wouldn’t have got a sniff. It wasn’t based on just one season, it wasn’t based on how many goals you scored in a few weeks. You had to do it year in, year out.

“I was at Manchester United when I was 21 and I didn’t get into the England squad until I was 24. You had to keep performing every game. Nowadays you can play four or five weeks of games and you’re in the England squad.”

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Vardy did not feature in England’s opening Euro 2016 match, a 1-1 draw with Russia, with Hodgson suffering much condemnation after Vasili Berezutski’s equaliser for not introducing the pacey striker to make the most of opportunities on the counter.

The Leicester striker was the subject of intense transfer speculation over the past week following Arsenal’s decision to activate a £20m release clause in his contract. Vardy’s representatives have told the Emirates hierarchy that he will not make any decision on his future until after the tournament is over, but Standard Sport revealed earlier this week that he is “80 per cent” likely to remain with his current club.

Fastest finger first! Football legend Paul Ince has teamed up with Carling to celebrate Carling’s Pay Per Inch promotion. Make sure your finger's on the pulse before anyone else and bag yourself a TV for the price of its screen size at www.PayPerInchTV.com. Follow @Carling on Twitter for more information.

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