Jamie Vardy’s Leicester City release clause is ludicrously low

Jamie Vardy's goal-scoring, assist-making and defender-harassing exploits earned him a new, £80,000-a-week deal but one clause stands out.

The Foxes striker signed a new contract earlier this year but the release clause has only just come to light. The 29-year-old is, according to The Daily Mail, available to teams competing in next season's Champions League for £20m [€26m]. The leak of this crucial piece of contract information may be a ruse by Vardy's agent to secure his player an even better salary over the summer months. Vardy is the second player in the City squad to have a release clause of £20m. Midfielder N'Golo Kante has the same clause in his contract but was only on £32,000-a-week last season. When the club was promoted to the Premier League, in 2014, Foxes owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha reportedly imposed a salary ceiling of £40,000 per week. Vardy was the first player to exceed that mark but Leicester will not make him the exception to the rule. Kante has been offered an improved pay deal, as has Riyad Mahrez. It has also been reported that Danny Drinkwater will be offered a weekly wage of £80,000 to stave off interest from Liverpool. Vardy has been linked to Manchester United, Chelsea and West Ham in recent months but none of those clubs have qualified for the Champions League. It is not known whether another, higher release clause for teams that did not make it into Europe's elite club competition.