Everton's Bold Gamble on Free Agent Jamie Vardy
Everton are exploring a surprise move for Jamie Vardy on a free transfer, with a growing number of supporters backing the idea of the former England striker leading their attack into the winter.
The club head into the next phase of the season with just one senior centre-forward after selling Beto on deadline day and failing to land Folarin Balogun. That gamble has left the squad dangerously light up front and pushed David Moyes towards the free-agent market with the transfer window shut until January.
Vardy, now 39, is one of the names firmly on the table. He became available after leaving Cremonese at the end of the 2025-26 campaign and has since been linked with several clubs, turning down interest from Wrexham as he weighs up his next step.
A return to the Premier League once looked unlikely. Now it is suddenly back in play.
Thin squad, big risk
Everton’s situation is stark. With only young forward Barry to call upon as a recognised striker, they are one injury or loss of form away from a full-blown crisis.
If Barry were to miss games, the goals column would almost certainly suffer and, with it, the club’s league position. For a side still looking over its shoulder most seasons, that is a risk they can barely afford.
That is why the idea of Vardy has caught fire. When The Sun revealed that Everton were considering a move, the expectation might have been for a backlash: too old, no pre-season, legs gone.
The reaction went the other way.
Supporters flooded X with messages backing the move, arguing that in the current circumstances, Vardy’s experience, movement and nose for goal make him an attractive short-term fix.
What Vardy still offers
Vardy is not the relentless, high-pressing spearhead who terrorised defences at his peak with Leicester City. But he has not stopped scoring.
Last season he struck seven times in Serie A for Cremonese and collected the league’s Player of the Month award in November, a reminder that his penalty-box instincts remain sharp even as his pace fades.
No one at Goodison Park would realistically expect him to hit those numbers again in half a season in the Premier League. Everton do not need that. They need moments.
A late winner here. A scruffy tap-in there. A run across the near post that turns one point into three.
For Moyes, even “a couple” of crucial goals between now and January could be the difference between drifting into trouble and staying afloat until the club can recruit properly in the next window.
The questions are obvious: Can a 39-year-old without a full pre-season cope with the intensity? Can he stay fit? Can he adapt quickly enough to a new dressing room and a familiar but unforgiving league?
The interest is real. The need is obvious.
What comes next is simple: whether Everton turn admiration into an offer and ask Jamie Vardy to roll the dice on one last Premier League chapter.
