Cremonese ready to give Vardy ‘more playing time’

VERONA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 15: Jamie Vardy of US Cremonese shows appreciation to the fans after the Serie A match between Hellas Verona FC and US Cremonese at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on September 15, 2025 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Cremonese coach Davide Nicola says Jamie Vardy has made ‘big steps forward’ so he’s ready to get more playing time, starting with tomorrow’s game against Inter at San Siro.

Cremonese are unbeaten in the opening five Serie A matches of the season and visit Inter at the Stadio Meazza tomorrow.

Cremonese already won a game in the iconic stadium this season, beating Inter’s city rivals Milan on Matchday 1.

“Inter are a team that does everything very well: possession, press between the lines, track back and counter-attack,” Cremonese coach Nicola said at a press conference on Friday via TMW.

“We’re going to learn from the best, and it’s a great opportunity for us to understand the level we can reach. It will be an important game to give us an idea of what’s needed to stay at the top.”

Vardy has made one Serie A appearance so far this season. He also missed one game due to a minor injury and was an unused substitute in a 1-1 draw against Como last week.

Vardy has made ‘big steps forward’, says Nicola

“Vardy and Sarmiento have made big steps forward and will be involved. Payero is getting consistency, but we can’t run too many risks,” Nicola said.

“Everyone’s improving, but we need patience to make everyone available and involve them from the start or from the bench.

Vardy ready for more playing time at Cremonese

“Until now, those in better shape have played. We had introduced Vardy before the physical issue; now we’ll give him more playing time,” continued the Cremonese coach.

“Bonazzoli has often been present; Johnsen has different skill sets from Vazquez, who is a universal player. We are deploying the strikers who allow us to have consistency and build the game with those who have had less playing time. We’ll find new solutions when everyone is fit to play 90. The coach’s duty is to make the players’ quality coexist as much as possible.”

Cremonese will travel to San Siro without their first-choice goalkeeper Emil Audero, who suffered an injury during the warm-up of last week’s away game at Como.

“Audero won’t be with us. It’s not a big issue, but he was good at noticing the problem and stopping in time,” Nicola concluded.

Inter will host Cremonese without the injured striker Marcus Thuram, so captain Lautaro Martinez will lead the Nerazzurri attack, joined by Ange-Yoan Bonny or Francesco Pio Esposito.