'I signed new contract with Man City – then they made a decision that hit me like a bus'

Kasper Schmeichel in his Manchester City days (Image: Getty)

Kasper Schmeichel has lifted the lid on the moment he was offered a new deal and then subsequently dropped by Manchester City, claiming it hit him “like a bus”. The former Leicester goalkeeper spent three years at City from 2006-2009.

However, his time with the Sky Blues was punctuated by loan spells. Speaking earlier this month to The Rest is Football podcast, the 37-year-old shot-stopper revealed how he thought his Etihad career was about to take off, only to be dropped by then-manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Schmeichel told host Gary Lineker that after an injury to Andreas Isaksson, the position of number one was up for grabs between him and Joe Hart. The Premier League winner divulged that despite getting the nod from the Swedish coach – and playing well in several Premier League games – he then lost his place and would never represent Manchester City again.

Schmeichel, who has recently signed for Celtic, revealed how in 2007 he was discussing a new contract with City amid an uncertain time for him at the club as he began competing with Hart for the number one jersey. “In my mind, I was like, right, surely now I must be edging in,” he said. “And while all this is going on, I’m talking with the club about a new contract. And I’m saying, I’m good with the contract I’m on, because I had a year left.”

“And then it got to the game, the night before the game, and Joe had trained fully, I had trained fully, and I didn’t really know what was going on,” he added.

Schmeichel continued: “The goalkeeper coach, Eric Steele, came to my room at the hotel and knocked on my door and just said, listen, do you know what’s going on tomorrow? And he said, well, you’re starting, you’re starting in the Premier League. Here we go, right, here we go.”

Shortly after getting the vote of confidence from City’s backroom staff, the young Dane surprised everyone with a string of performances as he conceded just one goal. He said: “So I played the first game. We win 2-0, I keep a clean sheet on my debut. Everything’s great. We play, I think it’s Derby County at home, win one or two nil, I think it is, another clean sheet. Manchester Derby comes round. We win 1-0, another clean sheet.”

Schmeichel won the title with Leicester in 2016 (Image: Getty)

“Play Arsenal away. I save a penalty from Robin van Persie and Fabregas scores on 82 minutes or something along those lines. And that’s when I conceded my first goal.” Despite thinking his career at the Etihad was about to ignite, Schmeichel then told of the heartbreaking moment that he was told his career at the club had effectively come to an end.

“I managed to play, I think, three more games. And in this period, I’m speaking with Man City and I’m thinking, all right, okay, I’m playing in the Premier League, I’m keeping clean sheets and everything’s good. Sven’s really trying to get me to stay. Sven’s really pushing hard for me to stay,” he said.

“In the end, they offered me a contract where they kind of said, right, this is what we think of you. And I looked at it, I thought, wow, okay, Jesus. Okay, they must believe in me then. And Sven said to me, like, trust me, we want you. So I had a lot of conversations with my dad, with the family, everything like, well, this is an incredible offer. And I’m playing in the Premier League, so why not?,”

“So I signed the contract and I think about three days later, I got dropped. So we’re playing Newcastle at home. And Sven pulls me to the side in the hotel after dinner in the evening and says, I’m gonna start Joe tomorrow. And that was like getting hit by a bus there. I was like, what?”

When asked about his reaction to the shocking news by Lineker, Schmeichel candidly admitted he “didn’t know” how to react and that the bombshell left him “frazzled”, he said: “I was so, in so much shock, and I was so young, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to react. So I was like, all right, okay. Just went back to my room and my mind was frazzled.”

He then revealed that the moment was the end of his time at City, “I actually, I never started a Premier League game again for Man City. And this Joe went on and did what Joe did.”

Schmeichel’s loss was Hart’s gain with the ex-Celtic keeper going on to make 266 appearances for City, winning the Premier League twice, the FA Cup once and the League Cup twice. He also turned out for England 75 times.

However, Schmeichel’s fortunes turned a corner when, after stints at Notts County and Leeds, he joined Leicester City. The Dane won the title with the Foxes in 2016 and the FA Cup in 2021, before leaving Leicester with 414 appearances to his name. He has had stays at Nice and Anderlecht before joining Celtic this summer.

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1927030/man-city-premier-league-transfers