Birmingham City plotting bold move to sign Jamie Vardy | OneFootball

A number of high-profile clubs are after the veteran forward this summer, including Blues.

Birmingham City have joined the race to sign out-of-contract Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy.

The ambitious Blues have taken a strong approach to improving their forward line this summer ahead of their Championship return. Their striker options were already fairly strong, with Jay Stansfield, Alfie May and Lydon Dykes to pick from last season.

Now Kyogo Furuhashi has been added to that crop - a player with goals at the highest level of European football - and City showed interest in another East Asian attacker in Wolves' Hwang Hee-chan, although that deal is considered unlikely to happen because of the finances that it would require.

Birmingham register interest in Jamie Vardy

Now they are after a former top-flight winner and Premier League record holder in Vardy. The 38-year-old, whose contract with Leicester came to an end earlier this summer, is a player of interest to Birmingham, according to Football Insider.

The League One outfit are said to be plotting a move for the former Foxes captain, who, after 13 years with the club, left the King Power Stadium as a free agent this summer.

Other prominent outfits like Crystal Palace, Rangers, Valencia and Wolves have been linked with the centre-forward since his future with Leicester first came into doubt, providing Birmingham with stiff competition for his signature.

Another barrier to entry for them could be Vardy's desire to stay in the Premier League next season. With teams of this level supposedly interested in the ex-England international, it may be tough for Tom Wagner, Tom Brady and co to convince him that their project is the one for him at this stage of his career.

That said, Kyogo turned down the opportunity to join teams in the English first division because of Birmingham's lofty ambitions, so they will hope to do similar with the ex-Leicester man.

Jamie Vardy would give real life to Birmingham's imminent Premier League return hopes

There is no doubt that there is plenty of fight left in Vardy. Not only that, his goalscoring instincts haven't left him as he has gotten older.

Nine goals from an xG of 11.21, according to Sofascore, in the Premier League last season proved his ability to find the back of the net was very much still there. Plus, in his last season in the Championship, two terms ago, he had double the amount of goals that he scored in his final season with the Foxes.

If Birmingham were to pull this off, it would vastly increase their chances of completing a brilliant double promotion. Vardy's base will be in the Midlands, which should give Blues' hopes a bit of an extra boost.