Leeds United will be fearing its not their season anymore to win promotion straight back up to the Premier League after a car-crash display against Queens Park Rangers last time out has now shattered all confidence in West Yorkshire.
The Whites were humiliated by Marti Cifuentes' Hoops instead of making it back-to-back wins in the Championship, the R's resoundingly beating Leeds 4-0 at Loftus Road as Daniel Farke's men trudged off the field in dire spirits at the end after being trounced.
Illan Meslier was the main Leeds player to be criticised in the scathing aftermath of this humbling loss on the road, the leaky Leeds goalkeeper conceding four in West London after shipping three the game prior away at Middlesbrough.
Leeds' woes between the sticks must leave them full of regret about how they treated one former shot-stopper, who was offloaded to Leicester City in 2011 for just £1.25m and ultimately ended up never looking back.
Kasper Schmeichel's time at Leeds
The Danish 'keeper is known today as being a reliable pair of gloves, most commonly associated with the Foxes who he appeared for a staggering 479 times before parting ways in 2022 for OGC Nice to break a more than decade-long connection.
But, back in 2011, Kasper Schmeichel was spoken of in the shadow of his father who was a legend at Manchester United during his playing days and wanting to cut his teeth wherever he could at a senior level.
The Whites would take a punt on Schmeichel after a promising spell in League Two with Notts County, gaining his services on a free transfer after making 49 appearances in total for the Magpies and keeping 25 clean sheets from those contests.
Schmeichel would instantly come in and become the Leeds first-choice 'keeper with 40 appearances during his one-and-only season in Yorkshire, playing for the arch-rivals of the Red Devils in the process which might not have gone down so well in his family household.
1. GK – Kasper Schmeichel
2. RB – Paul Connolly
3. CB – Neill Collins
4. CB – Richard Naylor
5. LB – Fede Bessone
6. CDM – Jonny Howson
7. CM – Neil Kilkenny
8. CM – Bradley Johnson
9. RW – Lloyd Sam
10. ST – Luciano Becchio
11. LW – Sanchez Watt
Sourced by Transfermarkt
It wouldn't be all smooth sailing for the inexperienced shot-stopper, however, who would only keep ten clean sheets all season long with six shipped in just one notable 6-4 defeat to Preston North End in league action.
Yet, Leeds should have exercised more patience when it comes to the 6 foot 2 Dane if they had hindsight on their side, knowing how much Schmeichel would come on leaps and bounds at his next employers in Leicester City after waving the turbulence of Elland Road goodbye.
Unaware of his move to the King Power Stadium right up until the last minute, with the Foxes not completing a move until deadline day on the eve of the next campaign, there must have been an element of Schmeichel lining up in his new colours right after the move was finished that was determined to prove any naysayers at Leeds wrong.
He would very much do that, even going on to lift the Premier League title at Leicester remarkably all whilst remaining their number one option in between the sticks for a lengthy 11-year span.
Kasper Schmeichel's time at Leicester
It wouldn't be an exaggeration in the slightest to say that the Scandinavian 'keeper is very much a solid part of the Leicester hall-of-fame now, having been with the Foxes all the way from their lacklustre Championship days up to the heady heights of their unbelievable top-flight title glory under Claudio Ranieri.
Schmeichel, from this 400 plus games at the King Power, would help himself to an impressive 147 clean sheets with a healthy portion of those coming during the season Leicester pulled off the unthinkable and were crowned Premier League champions.
The Danish shot-stopper would keep 15 clean sheets that term in league action, an everpresent and vital figure of Ranieri's historic side.
Even as his career began to wind down at the King Power, Schmeichel's importance to the Foxes cause never dwindled with seven clean sheets picked up from 37 games during his final campaign.
In 2021 – just a year before his bittersweet Foxes exit – Schmeichel's estimated transfer value would stand at a hefty £12.3m according to Football Transfers with his powers not diminishing even as he became more and more of a seasoned head in the Leicester dressing room.
That amount is a far greater total than Leeds sold him on for all the way back in 2011, with Schmeichel's career exploding in the men's game after leaving the chaos of West Yorkshire firmly behind him.
Yet, despite being described as being an "outstanding" goalkeeper by ex-Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers when he was in the Foxes dug-out still, Leicester would only get £1m for the then 35-year-old to end his time with the former FA Cup winners on a downer.
Leeds would love nothing more than to turn back time and give the Dane a second shot at success at Elland Road now, especially when you consider their woes between the sticks currently.
Leeds' goalkeeper woes
Meslier will be lucky to stay as Farke's main choice in net for Leeds' final game of the regular second-tier season against Southampton, after his horror-show display at Loftus Road could cost his side dear in the race for automatic promotion.
Yet, unlike Schmeichel who they let go of for way too cheap, Leeds could still manage to get a pretty penny out of a potential suitor eyeing up the leaky Frenchman.
Meslier's transfer value comes in as being the highest in the Leeds squad currently according to Football Transfers, boasting a £20.4m worth despite seeing his form fall off a cliff for Farke's anxiety-ridden Whites as of late.
If Leeds do decide to cash in down the line, they'll hope they can strike gold on a fresh up-and-coming face to take over from the ex-Lorient man and even stumble across their next Schmeichel who would end up staying put.
