Jamie Vardy '˜finalising £250,000 book deal'

The Sunday Times said the 29-year-old footballer, whose incredible rise from playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels to representing England and being on the verge of winning the Premier League with Leicester, is close to agreeing a publishing deal.

His agent John Morris of Key Sports Management said: “It’s 100 per cent certain there will be a book this autumn.”

Vardy was released from his boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday at the age of 16 on the grounds he was ‘too small’ to make it as a professional footballer.

He went on to play for Stocksbridge Park Steels while doing factory work but his sporting career was jeopardised at the age of 20 by a conviction for assault after a pub fight that Vardy has previously said was a result of him defending a deaf friend.

In one match for Stocksbridge, Vardy was taken off in a game against Belper Town because he was wearing an electronic tag and had to be back home for a curfew of 6pm.

But his impressive on-field performances resulted in him moving to Halifax Town in 2010, going on to play for Fleetwood Town where he scored 31 goals in 36 games to seal a move to Leicester.

At the start of this season, Leicester were 5,000-to-1 outsiders to win the Premier League but are now top of the table with the end of the season approaching - thanks in considerable part to Vardy’s goals, which included a Premier League record of scoring in 11 games in a row.

He has also gone on to represent England, scoring goals against Germany and Holland, and is expected to part of the squad going to Euro 2016.

In addition to the book deal, it is reported there have also been discussions about a potential film of Vardy’s life story with Adrian Butchart, a screenwriter who wrote the scripts for the first two Goal! movies.