Graham Potter dodges Leicester City question with Jamie Vardy claim

Graham Potter could be forgiven for thinking he dodged a bullet after biding his time to take the West Ham job.

Potter was wanted by Leicester City last summer and was linked with the role again after Steve Cooper was sacked in November. But the Foxes turned to Ruud van Nistelrooy while Potter, 49, replaced Julen Lopetegui at West Ham in January.

The former Chelsea boss guided the Hammers to a surprise win at Arsenal on Saturday and now faces a Foxes side looking increasingly doomed to relegation.

"I'm in a position now at a club that I'm really happy with," said Potter. "I'm not going to confirm or deny any of the rumours that were there, because there were too many.

"The only thing I can say is Leicester City is a great club with a great history, certainly recent history. I have full respect for them, but I'm delighted to be with West Ham.

"I said from the first day it was about the right opportunity and for different reasons this opportunity felt the right one.

"I'm delighted that I made that decision, and anything else is just part of the process to end up here."

Thursday night's clash will see two strikers who made the journey from non-league to the top flight face each other. Foxes veteran Jamie Vardy rose from Fleetwood to become a Premier League winner while Hammers skipper Jarrod Bowen, whose goal left Arsenal's title hopes in tatters on Saturday, started his career at Hereford.

"I don't think it's fair to either of the players to compare them – Jamie Vardy is unique," added Potter. "He's the best Jamie Vardy there is. Absolutely fantastic in terms of what he has achieved.

"His goalscoring record, winning the Premier League, winning the FA Cup, an unbelievable story from non-league to winning the Premier League.

"But Jarrod is Jarrod and he's the best at being him. He's our captain. A wonderful player. Probably not the same goalscorer as Jamie.

"I have full respect for Jamie but at the same time I'm loving working with Jarrod. He's been great for us, brilliant. The fact is they've come on a similar journey, through non-league and experienced the real world and they share that.

"You can see that in Jarrod – there's a humility about him, a respect about him and about how he plays the game and how he conducts himself. I think both in different ways have been great ambassadors for the different paths you can have as a footballer."

Leicester go into Thursday's game five points from safety in 19th place, while the Hammers are now 16th on 30 points after that surprise victory at Arsenal.

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