Leicester City to offer Jamie Vardy lucrative new contract to ward off Manchester United and Chelsea

Foxes prepared to double much-sought striker's £40,000 a week wages to keep him at the King Power Stadium

Jamie Vardy has scored 15 Premier League goals for the Foxes this season (Getty Images)

Leicester City are willing to offer their prolific striker Jamie Vardy a new £80,000 a week contract in order to ward off their Premier League rivals, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

Vardy’s form has been one of the major reasons behind the Foxes’ incredible season, earning the forward an international call-up and bringing a flurry of transfer speculation. Bottom of the Premier League exactly a year ago, Claudio Ranieri’s side currently sit second in the table, two points behind leaders Arsenal.

The 28-year-old has scored 15 goals in 20 appearances in that time, including in 11 straight Premier League matches that broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 12-year-old record for netting in consecutive games.

Such performances have seen the former non-league forward linked with some of England’s biggest clubs with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all interested in signing the league’s joint-top scorer.

Vardy still has more than two years to run on the contract he extended in August 2014 once the Foxes reached the top-flight, but now Leicester bosses are prepared to double his existing £40,000 a week deal in order to discourage interest and keep him at the King Power Stadium.

The England striker joined Leicester in 2012 from Fleetwood Town, then of the Conference Premier, for a non-league record of £1m.