Jamie Vardy could never have predicted his incredible rise to fame. Playing in the Conference for Fleetwood Town in 2012, four years later and he has just signed a new £80,000-a-week contract at Leicester City.

As the country gets prepared for the build up to Europe's biggest football tournament, Euro 2016, there is great speculation regarding whether one of the UK's most talked about rising stars will actually make the England squad.

Below, Newitts takes a look a five reasons why we think Jamie deserves a place in the England team at Euro 2016. We'd love to know if you agree.

Sheer talent

It is pure talent and sheer determination that has got Jamie Vardy where he is today, playing for Leicester City in the Premier League. Unlike football stars such as Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Steven Gerrard, whose talent was recognised very early on in their careers, Vardy has far less time to make his mark in English football, and we really think he deserves a chance to play in a major international tournament. 

He's in free-scoring form

So far this season, Vardy is the leading goalscorer for Leicester City, netting no less than 18 Premier League goals and he is largely responsible for Leicester City currently sitting five points clear of the top of the league table. Vardy has helped Leicester City to achieve wins against some of their biggest Premiership title rivals, such as the latest 3-1 win against Manchester City at the Etihad stadium on Saturday, the stunning win (and Vardy goal) against Liverpool earlier that week as well as scoring more goals for his team than anyone else in the League.

England need a Leicester City player

England have never won the World Cup without a Leicester City player in the team. Fact. You can't say the same about Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester City. Despite some of the snobbery surrounding Jamie Vardy playing for England at Euro 2016, there are plenty of other East Midland football players in the past who have joined the national team. Famous players, Peter Shilton, Gary Lineker and Emile Heskey have all been part of the line-up,  therefore you could argue that England have a better chance when they have someone with a strong Leicester City connection in their line-up.

He stands out from the crowd

England Manager, Roy Hodgson, has already given strong indications to fans  Vardy will be selected for Euro 2016 if he continues to perform as well as he has for Leicester City. Vardy has already made Premier League history this season by scoring in 11-straight games and was named player of the month in November. Speaking on the eve of the Euro 2016 draw in Paris in November, Hodgson said: 'What he can do is continue to be Jamie Vardy, playing in the way Jamie Vardy does, and that is always going to make him a very strong contender.'

He's a strong team player

Vardy has had a fantastic record this season and he deserves to be congratulated. He is not only an outstanding goal scorer, but also contributes a great deal outside of the goals and has proved time and time again he is an excellent team player, creating as well as scoring goals. Roy Hodgson has publicly praised Vardy on several occasions for his hard work as a defensive minded attacker - he has done a great deal of running and chasing this season to help ensure Leicester have maintained their leads and won games.

Do you think England will be a stronger team at Euro 2016 with Vardy as a striker? We'd love to know your thoughts below.

Posted on 17/02/2016 | By Leana Kell