2nd-tier Leipzig turned down chance to sign Jamie Vardy

RB Leipzig manager and sporting director Ralf Rangnick is kicking himself after turning down an offer for one of Europe's most potent scorers.

Two years ago, Jamie Vardy was a 27-year-old on the verge of a switch from lower-tier Leicester City to Saxony's largest city.

Instead, Leipzig declined the chance to sign the Sheffield-born striker and the rest is history.

"We desperately wanted to sign Joe Gomez, who later chose Liverpool, and we were flying back from London to Leipzig with his agent," Rangnick told Sport Bild, courtesy of SkySports.

"In the plane, the agent said to me 'Mr Rangnick, it's a crying shame that you are so radical about who you sign and only go for players who are under 24 because I've got somebody who would be just perfect for you. I can guarantee he would become a national team player under you, but he's already 27.'

"It was Jamie Vardy."

Like a moment forever etched into a memory of regret, Rangnick remembers saying, "No, he's 27 - we're not doing it."

Vardy's first campaign with the Foxes after a switch from Fleetwood Town was anything but promising. A record fee of £1 million for a non-league player seemed like an audacious reach for then-Leicester gaffer Nigel Pearson as Vardy flirted with dips in form, prompting speculation about a move to Germany.

The club finished sixth in the Championship but was bounced from the promotion playoffs by Watford. A year later Leicester won the league, and now it's one victory away from winning the top flight.

Who could have known? Certainly not Rangnick.

If it's any consolation for Die Bullen, the club sits second in the second tier of German football and is slated for its first promotion to the top flight in its brief six-year existence.