Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has wished Jamie Vardy “good luck” at Leicester City after the England striker and the Premier League champions agreed to a contract extension on Thursday, while also talking up Foxes’ midfielder N’Golo Kante.
Leicester on Thursday announced they signed Vardy to a new four-year deal, ending speculation about a possible move to Arsenal, who had triggered the 29-year-old’s release clause earlier in the summer.
Wenger confirmed the Gunners were interested in Vardy, but wished him well with Claudio Ranieri’s side.
“I think Leicester have made a statement and Vardy will stay. We were on the case and interested, but not more than that,” Wenger told beIN Sport. “He has decided to stay at Leicester and good luck to him.
“He came late to the game and in fairness Leicester bought him from Fleetwood and he has been successful. He is 29 and he has chosen to stay at Leicester. You have to respect that.”
The French manager, however, refused to rule out a possible move for France international Kante.
“It is very difficult to talk about that at the moment,” Wenger added. “Kante is on the list of many clubs. It is an area where we have many players.
“We will see what happens in the next two or three weeks. It looks like Leicester have bought a player from Nice [Nampalys Mendy] with similar qualities to Kante, so whether they envisage to lose him or not I don’t know.
“If you ask 100 people in the street if they want Kante to play [for France] you will get 100 saying yes. He has done the job in one or two games and I am not surprised.
“I said two months ago this boy will play the whole European Championship. We know him well from Leicester now and I am not surprised that he is starting. He has been one of the revelations of the French team.”
