Leicester City are unlikely to ever replicate the journey that saw them go from battling relegation to winning the Premier League title in the space of a year.
Leicester pulled off the great escape in 2014/15 under Nigel Pearson, who laid the foundations for their success under Claudio Ranieri.
The Foxes narrowly avoided relegation in 2015 and then miraculously won the Premier League title a year later, something that no one thought would have been achievable.
Jamie Vardy was the man that led their charge towards glory but it was the team collective and togetherness that set them apart from the chasing pack.
Vardy was often used in a two-man strike force under Ranieri and in the summer of 2016 he tried to add to it.
Why Troy Deeney rejected transfer to Leicester City
Troy Deeney famously broke Leicester’s heart with that goal in the Championship play-off semi-final in 2013, which sent Watford into the final at Wembley.
Three years on from that day, Ranieri tried to sign the sharpshooter for the Foxes, seeing multiple bids get turned down, including one that totalled £25 million.
Deeney was tempted by a move to the King Power Stadium and reckons he would have made it into the England squad if he completed the switch.
“That summer (2016), Leicester, the reigning champions, made several bids to sign me,” Deeney wrote in his autobiography via the Sun in 2021.
“I was flattered by that and tempted by it. I spoke to the Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri about it and looked at it as a win–win situation.
“I was the main man at Watford and was being mentioned in the England conversation but if I had gone to Leicester, I think I would have had an England call-up by now.
“I would have played Champions League there and my profile would have gone up.”
Deeney chose to stay at Vicarage Road, cementing his place as a club legend but there was one player who nearly persuaded him to complete the transfer.
Deeney wanted to link up with Jamie Vardy
In the summer of 2016, Jamie Vardy rejected a transfer to Arsenal after Arsene Wenger tried to prise him to the Emirates Stadium.
For Deeney, playing in a front two with his fellow Englishman was a mouth-watering prospect but, he preferred being the main man at Watford and knew he couldn’t craft a similar legacy at Leicester.
“Jamie Vardy was weighing up a move to Arsenal at the same time Leicester were offering Watford £25million for me but he ended up staying,” he added.
“I would have played with Vardy in a two up front and I think our natural games would have complemented each other well.
“I knew I had to be realistic and understand that if the move did happen, I would never be able to be part of something that surpassed what Leicester had just achieved.
“I was never going to become a Leicester legend in the same way I had become part of Watford’s history.”
Deeney ended up scoring 140 goals in 419 appearances for Watford and is currently a free agent after leaving Forest Green Rovers in 2024.