Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says the non-league is becoming a breeding ground for top talent.
Wenger admits the "hunger index" is a factor when looking at lower league prospects.
The Frenchman said: "The hunger index is sometimes built by the difficulty of realising your dreams and is developed by that.
"I believe that sometimes, when you start out at 18 years of age on the red carpet, it can make you think, 'This is normal, this is easy'.
"A player who starts and has been educated at Arsenal starts in the Champions League for the past 20 years. Well he doesn't know what it is like to fight every week just to make his position in the team and to win the games.
"These kinds of non-league players, once they come up, they have watched on television the Champions League or Premier League; once they are in there they are ready for a fight. That develops the hunger.
"The non-league stars are out there. And I'll tell you there will be more and more down there.
"In the Premier League you will have more and more foreign players and good players will go down and down and down the leagues.
"But, in my 20 years here, Vardy is the first example I have seen go from non-league to the England national team."