Leicester City striker, Jamie Vardy, has informed England manager Gareth Southgate he will no longer be available for selection after retiring from international football.
Vardy was part of England’s 2018 World Cup squad but was limited to one start in Russia and now wants to focus on club football and spend more time with his family.
The 31-year-old held talks with Southgate and, among a number of other factors, accepts he is unlikely to get much playing time for the Three Lions even if he is selected in upcoming squads.
“To be honest with you, this has been on my mind for a while,” he told The Guardian. “I’m not getting any younger and you can see, he wants it to be more youthful, which obviously had its benefits during the World Cup – we got to the semi-finals and finished fourth, which is equal to the furthest we have ever been on foreign soil.
“So I just said to Gareth that I think it’s probably best from now on, especially with the way he wants to go, to bring youngsters in who he thinks have got the ability and start nurturing them into international football.
“Yeah, I think that had an impact [less playing time]. “When you get selected, you want to be playing. If you’re playing week in, week out for your club, you want to be going to England to play as well. And if it’s not happening, then for me personally now, at this age, it’s better to be at home, spending that time with my family and training with my club, preparing for the next game after the international break.”
“I explained it all to Gareth and he was fine with my decision. I mentioned it to him after the World Cup had finished, out in Russia, and then I spoke to him on the phone a couple of weeks ago. He let it die down a bit, so that I could have a bit more time to think, and then rang me up just to make sure I wasn’t just taking the mickey in Russia.
“But I hadn’t changed my mind. Gareth said that he felt I still had a lot to offer, and we’ve not shut the door completely. If the worst came to happen and everyone was injured, then obviously I wouldn’t say no.”
