LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 04: Jamie Vardy of Leicester City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers at The King Power Stadium on May 04, 2024 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Leicester City are in the midst of their 2024 pre-season preparation and were without Jamie Vardy for their latest fixture.
Steve Cooper took charge of his first proper Leicester City pre-season game on July 23rd.
The newly-appointed boss got his first glimpse of Leicester’s first-team squad last week in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Villarreal on Saturday.
The Foxes’ official pre-season began on Tuesday, though, and saw the Midlands outfit travel to New Meadow for a meeting with Shrewsbury Town.
Leicester came out on top, securing a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Stephy Mavididi and Kasey McAteer.
It was not all positive news for Cooper, however, as a couple of injury issues were revealed post-match.
Jamie Vardy injured ahead of Tottenham Hotspur meeting
Back-up goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk has been forced to undergo ankle surgery after suffering an injury in training and will be sidelined for six months.
Elsewhere, Jamie Vardy, who started the pre-season fixture against Villarreal last week, also missed out versus Shrewsbury.
Despite his age, Vardy remains a key figure at the King Power Stadium, and losing him so close to the new season would be a big blow.
However, Leicester Live have revealed that the striker only suffered a knock and will be back before the end of pre-season.
In turn, Vardy should be in contention when Cooper’s side host Tottenham Hotspur in their 2024/25 Premier League opener on August 19th.
Should Leicester City replace Jamie Vardy this summer
Even if Vardy is expected to be back fit for the start of the new season, Leicester should look to replace him in the current window.
The Englishman is 37 and will turn 38 midway through 2024/25, meaning he is unlikely to be able to play a full 38-game campaign.
And behind Vardy, Leicester’s striker options are probably not good enough to keep them in the Premier League.
Patson Daka and Tom Cannon played 45 minutes each in Vardy’s absence versus Shrewsbury.
Daka only scored seven goals in the Championship last term and his top-flight record of nine in 53 is not great.
As for Cannon, he has just one Premier League appearance to his name and was used as a rotation option in 2023/24.
Leicester now want to strengthen their striker department before deadline day but no names are being linked at present.
