A decade after turning himself from non-league chaos goblin into Premier League champion, the 39-year-old now finds himself attempting to drag Cremonese toward survival in Serie A with the same combination of nuisance, opportunism and stubborn refusal to behave like a man approaching 40 that defined his Leicester career.

And somehow, against all logic and biological expectation, he is still delivering.

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Vardy to the rescue 

Highlights of Cremonese's win over Pisa 

   

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Vardy’s goal in a 3-0 home win over Pisa – his sixth league goal of the season – may yet prove one of the most important scored by anyone near the bottom of Serie A this year. Cremonese remain deep in trouble, but the win kept alive realistic hopes of survival heading into the final weeks of the campaign, as they sit just one point behind 17th-placed Lecce.

The broader surprise is not merely that Vardy is scoring occasionally in Italy. It is that he has become central to Cremonese’s entire emotional identity.

This is not the Vardy of 2016, sprinting beyond terrified defensive lines every four minutes while drinking enough Red Bull to power a small city. The acceleration has dulled slightly, the movements are more selective and there are games where his legs visibly negotiate with him midway through the second half.

But the instincts remain almost untouched.

His goal against Torino was vintage Vardy: a sweeping first-time finish from the edge of the box before anyone had fully adjusted to the danger. There are strikers ten years younger who still take an extra touch in those moments. Vardy never has.Getty

Cremonese’s problem, unfortunately, is that survival requires more than nostalgia. They have spent much of the season looking exactly like a newly promoted side trying desperately to survive modern Serie A’s tactical brutality. There have been defensive collapses, long stretches without possession and too many matches where individual mistakes undid otherwise respectable performances.

Yet Vardy has given them belief they perhaps should not possess.

That matters in relegation battles. Experience matters too. While younger players tighten under pressure, Vardy looks oddly comfortable in football’s messiest environments. Relegation scraps are essentially his natural habitat: frantic games, nervous defenders, transitions, chaos, emotional volatility. He understands exactly how ugly survival fights become because he has lived through enough of them.

There is also something wonderfully fitting about Vardy choosing this sort of final chapter. Saudi Arabia would have been easier. MLS would have been quieter. Instead he has thrown himself into a survival battle in northern Italy, still chasing lost causes and still snarling at referees like the stakes are life-altering.

And perhaps they are for Cremonese.

Because while six goals does not sound transformative on paper, context changes everything. For a struggling side operating with one of the division’s weakest attacks, Vardy’s contributions have directly preserved precious points. More importantly, he has brought personality to a team that could easily have drifted into resignation months ago.Getty

Whether that will ultimately be enough remains unclear. Cremonese still need results, still need defensive improvement and still probably require help elsewhere.

But with Vardy around, at least they have a chance.

And football learned a long time ago that dismissing Jamie Vardy is usually a mistake.

How to watch Serie A on DAZN

Witness how the 2025/26 Serie A unfolds with all 380 games live on DAZN in the UK & Ireland, and in the US in Spanish language. For more information and to sign up to watch,  click here .

You can watch Serie A via the DAZN App, available on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles, and web browsers.

If you do not have the App already, then just follow these instructions....

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