Vydra joined
Baník Ostrava from
Vysočina Jihlava in January 2010 at the age of 17 for 20 million
CZK (€765,000). Vydra scored his first goal for Watford when he netted the winner against
Crystal Palace on 18 August 2012, in a game which finished 3–2. Vydra won the award ahead of
Glenn Murray of
Crystal Palace and
Blackpool's
Thomas Ince. Despite going on a run in which he didn't score in 13 games, he went on to score twice in the semi-final of the end-of-season play-offs in a 3–2 aggregate win over
Leicester. Vydra's season at Watford finished in disappointment as his club lost the chance to be promoted to the
English top-flight after losing the play-off final against Crystal Palace and he injured his ankle during the match, having to be substituted at half time.
West Bromwich Albion (loan) Vydra joined
Premier League club
West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan deal on 13 August 2013. He scored his first goal for the club on 21 December 2013, equalising for West Brom in a 1–1 Premier League draw against
Hull City. On 22 February 2014, Vydra scored his second goal for West Brom, equalising in a 1–1 draw against
Fulham. His third goal for the club came in a 3–3 draw against
Tottenham, with Vydra scoring the game's first goal after 28 seconds.
Return to Watford On 26 June 2014, Watford announced they had re-signed Vydra on a season-long loan from Udinese, with a view to a permanent move. Vydra made a scoring return as he netted in Watford's 3–0 opening day win over Bolton Wanderers on 9 August 2014. On 25 April, he came on as a substitute to score as Watford beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2–0 at the
Falmer Stadium thus securing Watford's promotion back to the Premier League, thanks to other results going their way, with Vydra scoring 16 goals in the
Championship to help earn promotion.
Watford Watford signed Vydra permanently in July 2015 with the player signing a five-year contract. He started the
2015–16 season behind
Odion Ighalo and
Troy Deeney in the pecking order, on 25 August 2015, he played for Watford in a 1–0 loss against Preston in the
League Cup.
Reading (loan) On 1 September 2015,
Reading signed Vydra on a season-long loan for a fee of £2.5 million with an option to sign him permanently for £10 million if promoted to the
Premier League in the
2016–17 season. He made his Reading debut on 11 September 2015 in a 5–1 win against
Ipswich Town. He scored his first goal for the club on 31 October in a 1–1 draw against
Brighton. On 19 January 2016 in a
FA Cup third round replay, he scored a
hat-trick in a 5–2 comeback victory over
Huddersfield Town. In total he scored 9 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions for the club, finishing the club's 2nd top scorer (behind
Nick Blackman) for the
2015–16 season.
Derby County On 27 August 2016,
Derby County announced that they had signed Watford striker Vydra on a four-year deal, for a fee reported at £8,000,000. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to
Blackburn Rovers on 24 September 2016. In his first
Derby season he scored 5 goals, making 33 appearances in the
EFL Championship with 13 of those coming as a substitute, with Vydra playing in different positions with the likes of
Tom Ince,
Darren Bent,
Johnny Russell and
David Nugent all competing for attacking position roles. Vydra scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 3–0 away win over
Middlesbrough on 25 November 2017. After the sale of previous season top scorer
Tom Ince and the acquisitions of Strikers
Sam Winnall and
Cameron Jerome, Vydra found himself playing in his favoured
second striker position behind a central striker of either Winnall, Jerome,
David Nugent or
Chris Martin His goals during the 2017–18 season helped Derby reach the play-off semi finals, where they were knocked out over two legs by
Fulham. In April 2018, he was named in the
PFA Championship Team of the Year and also in the
EFL Championship Team Of The Year. He scored 22 goals in all competitions and received the Sky Bet Championship Golden Boot after scoring 21 goals in the Championship during the 2017–18 season. In July 2018, Vydra held talks with fellow
EFL Championship side
Leeds United over a potential move. However, after weeks of negotiations, the move broke down over personal terms.
Burnley Burnley signed Vydra for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal from Derby on 7 August 2018. On 30 August 2018, he scored on his debut in a 1–1 draw against
Olympiakos in the play-off round of the
Europa League. on 22 September, he scored his first goal in the
Premier League in a 4–0 victory over
AFC Bournemouth. On 15 February 2020, Vydra netted his first league goal since September 2018 in a 2–1 win against
Southampton, that goal was later voted as
Premier League Goal of the Month for February. After Burnley's
relegation, on 4 August 2022, Vydra confirmed his departure at the end of his contract; despite offers from the club to extend.
Viktoria Plzeň On 23 December 2022, Vydra returned to Czechia joining
Viktoria Plzeň on a free transfer and signing a two-and-a-half year contract. ==International career==