Leeds United had to feel bad about trading away this eventual Premier League victor. Simon Grayson, Kasper Schmeichel, Leeds United Transfer, Leicester City.
Leeds United‘s fear is that they may not be able to win promotion right back up to the Premier League this season because of their recent car-crash performance against Queens Park Rangers, which completely destroyed West Yorkshire’s confidence.
Instead of winning back-to-back games in the Championship, the Whites were humiliated by Marti Cifuentes‘ Hoops. The R’s thrashed Leeds 4-0 at Loftus Road, and Daniel Farke’s team left the field in dismay after losing badly.
The major Leeds player receiving criticism in the harsh aftermath of this humiliating away defeat was Ilan Meslier, the leaking Leeds goalkeeper who had let up three goals away at Middlesbrough the previous game. The Leeds goalkeeper conceded four goals in West London.
Leeds’s troubles in goal must be making them regret the way they handled one former goalie, who was shipped to Leicester City in 2011 for a meagre £1.25 million and eventually left the team. Leeds during Kasper Schmeichel’s tenure
The Danish custodian, who is most known for his dependable gloves, played for the Foxes for an incredible 479 appearances until leaving in 2022 to join OGC Nice, ending a relationship that spanned more than ten years.
However, back in 2011, Kasper Schmeichel was regarded as being in the shadow of his legendary father, who played for Manchester United and was known for trying to make as many senior-level cuts as possible.
After a successful stint in League Two with Notts County, Schmeichel would be taken a punt by the Whites. He signed a free transfer agreement with the Magpies, making 49 appearances overall and keeping 25 clean sheets in those games.
In his one and only season in Yorkshire, Schmeichel would emerge as the first-choice ‘keeper for Leeds, making 40 games while representing the Red Devils’ bitter rivals, a move that may not have gone over well in his family.
The rookie goalkeeper’s season would only end with 10 clean sheets, six of which were given away in a single, memorable 6-4 league loss to Preston North End. It wouldn’t be easy sailing for the rookie, though.
However, with hindsight on their side, Leeds ought to have been more patient with the 6′ 2″ Dane, knowing how much Schmeichel would advance rapidly at his next employers, Leicester City, after bidding a fond farewell to the turbulent Elland Road environment.
There must have been a part of Schmeichel lining up in his new colours immediately after the move was finished, determined to prove any doubters at Leeds wrong, because he was unaware of his move to the King Power Stadium until the very last minute, with the Foxes not finishing a move until deadline day on the eve of the following campaign.
He would certainly accomplish that, even going on to win the Premier League title with Leicester while holding the top spot in goal for an impressive 11 years.
The tenure of Kasper Schmeichel at Leicester
Saying that the Scandinavian custodian is a mainstay in the Leicester history would not be overstated, as he has been a part of the team from their drab Championship days to the dizzying heights of their incredible Premier League title triumph under Claudio Ranieri.
From his more than 400 appearances at the King Power, Schmeichel would amass an incredible 147 clean sheets, many of which came during the season that Leicester accomplished the impossible by winning the Premier League.
The Danish custodian, a constant and essential member of Ranieri’s legendary team, would record 15 clean sheets throughout that league season.
With seven clean sheets from 37 appearances in his final season, Schmeichel’s value to the Foxes cause never diminished even as his time at the King Power started to wind down.
Just one year before his heartbreaking departure from the Foxes in 2021, Football Transfers estimated Schmeichel’s transfer worth to be a healthy £12.3 million. His abilities would not decline even as he grew increasingly experienced in the Leicester dressing room.
The sum is significantly higher than what Leeds first agreed to sell him for back in 2011, when Schmeichel’s career was booming in the men’s game after putting West Yorkshire’s mayhem completely behind him.
Even yet, Leicester would only receive £1 million for the then-35-year-old, ending his career with the previous FA Cup winners on a down note, despite the fact that former Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers called him a “outstanding” custodian when he was still in the Foxes dugout.
Considering their present struggles in goal, Leeds would do anything to go back in time and give the Dane another chance to succeed at Elland Road.
Leeds’ nightmare performance at Loftus Road could prove costly for his team in the battle for automatic promotion, thus Messier will be lucky to remain Farke’s first option in goal for Leeds’ final match of the regular second-tier season against Southampton.
However, Leeds might still make a good amount of money from a prospective suitor interested in the leaky Frenchman, unlike Schmeichel, who they let leave for way too little. Despite watching his form collapse for Farke’s anxious Whites recently, Meslier has the highest transfer value of any player in the Leeds roster, according to Football Transfers, with a £20.4 million value.
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