How Vardy fits in at Cremonese: Role, new teammates and promising start | OneFootball

Newly-promoted Serie A side Cremonese have pulled off an exciting deal to bring former Premier League winner Jamie Vardy to the club on a free transfer, so how will the Englishman fit in, who are his new teammates and how have La Cremo got on in the top flight so far?

According to Sunday’s reports, Cremonese have agreed a one-year contract with Vardy, which will also include an option to extend for an additional 12 months.

The 38-year-old is expected to fly over to Italy on Sunday night, although there are no concerns about Monday’s transfer deadline given that he is a free agent.

Where will Vardy fit in for Cremonese?

WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – APRIL 26: Jamie Vardy of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Leicester City FC at Molineux on April 26, 2025 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

The veteran Englishman is expected to be a regular for his new side, although it may take a little while for his debut to arrive given that he has not had much of a pre-season at all.

There will be plenty of opportunities for him to play later down the line, though, especially given that Davide Nicola prefers a 3-5-2 with two centre-forwards.

Nicola has already used two entirely different combinations of strikers for his first two matches of the Serie A season, starting Federico Bonazzoli and David Okereke for the surprise 2-1 win over Milan, and Franco Vasquez and Antonio Sanabria for Friday’s 3-2 win over Sassuolo.

MILAN, ITALY – AUGUST 23: Federico Bonazzoli of Cremonese celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with teammate during the Serie A match between AC Milan and US Cremonese at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on August 23, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

What Vardy brings, however, despite his age, is blistering pace running in behind and a lethal eye for goal, to a level that Cremonese do not have with their current attacking options.

Who will Vardy play with in 2025-26?

CREMONA, ITALY – AUGUST 29: Filippo Terracciano of US Cremonese celebrates after scoring the 1-0 goal during the Serie A match between US Cremonese and US Sassuolo Calcio at Stadio Giovanni Zini on August 29, 2025 in Cremona, Italy. (Photo by Marco M. Mantovani/Getty Images)

Cremonese’s squad is not exactly filled with household names outside of Serie A, but their business over the course of the summer has been encouraging nonetheless.

La Cremo have managed to bring in a mixture of youth and proven Serie A experience with the likes of Warren Bondo on loan from Milan, centre-back Federico Baschirotto, who was on the scoresheet against the Rossoneri, and Antonio Sanabria from Torino.

Giuseppe Pezzella and Alessio Zerbin also bring proven Serie A experience to the team, along with the likes of Emil Audero and Milan youngster Filippo Terracciano.

All told, between loan signings, permanents and free transfers, Cremonese have brought in 15 players thus far, not including Vardy, nor Jeremy Sarmiento, who is also expected to join on loan before the end of the window.

Cremonese off to flying start

EMPOLI, ITALY – APRIL 6: Davide Nicola manager of Cagliari Calcio gestures during the Serie A match between Empoli and Cagliari at Stadio Carlo Castellani on April 6, 2025 in Empoli, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

Cremonese could not have asked for a better start to their Serie A campaign. Having won promotion from Serie B via the play-offs last season, Nicola and his team were handed a tricky test away against Milan in San Siro to start their season, but stunned Serie A with a shock 2-1 victory over Massimiliano Allegri.

That has since been followed up with another encouraging 3-2 victory over newly-promoted Sassuolo thanks to a 93rd minute penalty on Friday night.

They did lose on penalties to Palermo in the opening round of the Coppa Italia, but this may come to benefit the team in the long run given that they will now only have Serie A matches to contend with until the end of the 2025-26 season.