PAUL PESCHISOLIDO is hoping Jamie Vardy ties Ruud van Nistelrooy’s scoring record today but revealed: “I could have signed him for £25,000!”
Ex-Burton boss Peschisolido was offered the star striker when he was playing in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier five years ago . . . but thought he was too EXPENSIVE.
And the Canadian admits his decision to snub a player now worth £15million still haunts him.
Peschisolido revealed how he:
Knew all about Vardy’s talent when he was playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels and personally scouted him twice at Halifax.
Was advised Vardy would become a future England star.
Baulked at Halifax’s £25,000 asking price because he thought it was too big a gamble.
Had concerns because Vardy had been in trouble with the law.
But now the situation could not be any more different.
After missing England’s recent friendlies with a hip injury, Vardy is set to play for Leicester at Newcastle this afternoon knowing that another goal would see him equal Van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record of scoring in TEN consecutive games.
So it is perhaps understandable that Peschisolido, 44, rues what he missed out on.
Pesch said: “He first came on to my radar when my academy coach at Burton told me he was scoring left, right and centre for Stocksbridge Park Steels.
“So by the time he went to Halifax I decided to go and take a look. Jamie scored in both games I watched and was quick, lively, tenacious and aggressive. You could see he had something.
“His agent John Morris told me: ‘Mark my words, Pesch, this lad is going to play for England’.
“But if I’d a tenner for every time I’ve heard an agent say that, I’d have a tidy pile of them.
“You can just never be sure a player’s going to make the grade.”
Pesch remembers his PANIC when Halifax raised their asking price from £20,000 to £25,000.
At the time, Vardy was on probation after being found guilty of assault — and Pesch decided to pass on the offer.
Vardy assaulted a man who, he has claimed, was making fun of a friend wearing a hearing aid.
Peschisolido revealed: “It started at £20,000 then went up to £25,000. I was panicking. My main concern was that I was working for Burton.
“It’s very much a family club. I was worried about bringing in a non-league player that would be wearing a police tag and cost a club our size quite a lot of money.
“When you put all that together, 25 grand is a gamble. Obviously it’s great he grew up and matured, it just took him a bit longer.
“But I never had the benefit of hindsight.”
Conference club Fleetwood eventually took the plunge on Vardy, now 28, for £175,000 — before selling him to Leicester for £1m in May 2012. Peschisolido — out of work since being sacked by Burton over three years ago — added: “It’s a fantastic story and gives everybody hope in non-league that they can do it.
“Had I signed Jamie Vardy, Burton would be in the Championship now and I’d be seen as a managerial genius!”
And all for just £25,000!