Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wishes Leicester’s Jamie Vardy 'good luck'

Arsene Wenger will now move on to other targets after failing to lure Vardy to the Emirates Stadium

Arsene Wenger says he respects Jamie Vardy's decision to reject Arsenal to remain at Leicester and has wished the England forward good luck in the future.

The Gunners had been hoping to secure the signing of the 29-year-old this summer after activating his £20m release clause.

But on Wednesday it was announced Vardy, who scored 24 times last season as Leicester were crowned Premier League champions, had agreed a new four-year contract with the Foxes and would sign the deal following the conclusion of Euro 2016. 

"I think Leicester have made a statement and Vardy will stay. We were on the case and interested, but not more than that," Wenger told beIN Sports.

"He has decided to stay at Leicester and good luck to him.

Jamie Vardy has decided to remain at Leicester, despite interest from Arsenal

"He came late to the game and in fairness Leicester bought him from Fleetwood and he has been successful. He is 29 and he has chosen to stay at Leicester. You have to respect that."

Wenger also refused to rule out a move for Vardy's Leicester team-mate N'Golo Kante, who is currently away on international duty with France at Euro 2016.

Kante enjoyed a sensational debut season at Leicester after signing last summer from Caen, making 37 appearances and scoring once during their title winning campaign.

Wenger says N'Golo Kante (R) is attracting interest from a host of clubs

"It is very difficult to talk about that at the moment," Wenger added. "Kante is on the list of many clubs. It is an area where we have many players.

"We will see what happens in the next two or three weeks. It looks like Leicester have bought a player from Nice [Nampalys Mendy] with similar qualities to Kante, so whether they envisage to lose him or not I don't know.

"If you ask 100 people in the street if they want Kante to play [for France] you will get 100 saying yes. He has done the job in one or two games and I am not surprised.

"I said two months ago this boy will play the whole European Championship. We know him well from Leicester now and I am not surprised that he is starting. He has been one of the revelations of the French team."