When Kasper Schmeichel made his Manchester City debut against West Ham United in September 2007 he was regarded as one of the most promising young goalkeepers in football.
Having a father who became a legend within the game was perhaps the reason why so many touted him for great things and he certainly showed promised during spells with the likes of Bury, Cardiff City and Coventry.
But having to compete with Joe Hart for the number one shirt at City meant a lack of first-team opportunities for Schmeichel and, with Sven-Goran Eriksson only using him during an injury crisis, it was inevitable that the young Dane would have to leave the club to further his career.
After eight first team appearances for City he eventually got his wish and moved to Notts County in 2009. From there he was able to use regular first team game time to improve and work his way back up to the Premier League, which is where he arguably deserves to be, given the obvious talent he has.
Now at Leicester City, after a season with Leeds United, the 27-year-old stopper is finally showing top-flight qualities and is regularly praised for his outstanding performances at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester dramatically missed out on a play-off final spot last season but look good for automatic promotion this time around, with Schmeichel being as solid as they come between the sticks. But with top-flight football one of his main goals, Schmeichel will also feel that he has a point to prove when Leicester host his former employers in Round 5 of the Capital One Cup.
He may feel that he wasn’t given a fair chance to develop his skills and show City and the Premier League what he was capable of in goal and, to an extent, that he was able to follow in the footsteps of his father, Peter.
Furthermore, with City currently having something of a goalkeeping ‘crisis,’ Schmeichel will firmly believe that had he been given the chance he could be the answer to their apparent troubles.
Joe Hart’s rapid rise to the top the game appears to have piled the pressure on him this season and it has seen him replaced by Costel Pantilimon. Schmeichel, though, may believe it should have been him getting the first team opportunity instead of Pantilimon.
This tie will give Schmeichel the perfect chance to show Manchester City what they are missing and, perhaps, that they should have stuck with him and nurtured him, which is what they did with Hart instead.
It could be argued that Schmeichel is a Premier League goalkeeper playing in the Championship, while others will say he was never given the opportunity to develop into a top-flight stopper because of limited game time at City.
Either way, he’s certainly proving a point now and, if he can help guide Leicester to a famous Capital One Cup upset at the King Power Stadium and then promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season, it could be him having the last laugh after all.
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