Kasper Schmeichel in action for Leicester City. (Getty Images)
Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has signed a new long-term contract with the club which will keep him at King Power Stadium till June 2023. The new contract will also see him earn wages in the region of £120,000-a-week, as per The Sun. Recent reports had linked Schmeichel to a move to Chelsea but his contract renewal should bring joy and relief among the Foxes’ fans.
Kasper Schmeichel, son of legendary Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, switched Leeds United for Leicester in 2011 and was an integral part of the team that won the Championship in the 2013/14 season. But the most remarkable achievement of his life came in the following season when Leicester did the unthinkable. Schmeichel played every minute of that historic Premier League season as the Foxes scripted the biggest underdog story in the history of the game.
Schmeichel, along with Jamie Vardy, N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez, were the linchpins that took Leicester to the title. In that season, he kept 15 clean sheets and made 100 saves in the league. But even when Vardy and Mahrez failed to deliver in the seasons ahead, Schmeichel kept doing what he is best at – rescuing Leicester with his prolific saves.
Despite being injured for a long time, the big Dane has kept 16 clean sheets and made over 220 saves in the seasons that followed. He was the hero for his national team in the recently concluded World Cup as well. He made an unbelievable 17 saves in Denmark’s four matches, which also included one extra-time penalty save from Luka Modric and two more penalty saves during the shootout against Croatia.
He has a reputation of being a penalty expert as well. He stopped two spot-kicks last season in the Premier League but his most important penalty saves came in the Champions League. In the 2016/17 season, he produced a stupendous performance against Sevilla in the Round of 16, becoming the first goalkeeper in the elite competition’s history to save a penalty in each game of a knock-out round tie.
Speaking to LCFC TV in a recent interview, Schmeichel said,
“I’m very happy to be here for many more years. I’ve spent the majority of my career at Leicester now and had some amazing times here, so hopefully we’ll have some more. I’ve felt at home at this Club from day one, so I’d like to thank the fans for the support they’ve given me and also the owners who’ve played a huge part in my career. I want to bring more success to this Club as I’ve loved every minute and hopefully we can keep going in the right direction.”
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While the likes of Kante, Mahrez, and Drinkwater have moved on, the Danish No.1 has stayed at the club through thick and thin. Now, he will go down in Leicester’s folklore as one of the greatest-ever players to have played for the club.
