Kasper Schmeichel drops prediction about Leicester City successor Mads Hermansen
Leicester City legend Kasper Schmeichel has declared that he is looking forward to seeing how his international understudy and current Foxes stopper Mads Hermansen progresses in the coming years having already showed that he belongs at the top level.
Hermansen and Schmeichel are both currently away with the Danish national team and the latter kept a clean sheet as they impressively saw off Portugal 1-0 in their Nations League clash on Thursday evening.
The 38-year-old, who made almost 500 appearances for City and won four separate pieces of silverware during his time at the King Power Stadium, has 112 caps for Denmark and won his country’s footballer of the year award in 2016, 2019 and 2020. Still established as the Red and Whites’ number one, Schmeichel is seeing first hand the next generation.
The current Celtic stopper, reunited this past season with Brendan Rodgers, has been working with both Hermansen and Chelsea keeper Filip Jorgensen over the last number of international breaks and is excited by the coming wave of talent who’ll one day be succeeding him.
Hermansen is 14 years Schmeichel’s junior but is yet to earn himself a full international cap while Schmeichel remains first choice, but the veteran is satisfied that his country are in safe hands once he calls time on his international career.
“Both Mads Hermansen and Filip Jorgensen have impressed and proven that they belong on the top shelf,” Schmeichel told Danish outlet Bold. “It bodes well for the future of Danish football and I look forward to seeing more of them in the future, because they are two really talented goalkeepers.
“I hope and believe that all players who are with the national team will play. Otherwise they have nothing to do here. My approach from day one I joined the national team was that I wanted to be in goal. I had to wait a long time for that debut. I had to wait several years, but that’s part of the game.”
Hermansen has been first choice under Steve Cooper and Ruud Van Nistelrooy this term, although a groin injury midway through the campaign opened the door for minutes for both Danny Ward and Jakub Stolarczyk.
Hermansen is one of eight players currently spending time away from City during the international break; Jordan Ayew is away with Ghana and is captaining his country, scoring in their 5-0 World Cup qualifying win over Chad on Friday.
Wout Faes is away with Belgium, Bobby Decordova-Reid with Jamaica and Ward with Wales, while centre half Jannik Vestergaard is also in Hermansen’s company in the Denmark camp. Wilfred Ndidi is playing for his native Nigeria while Bilal El Khannouss scored the winner in Morocco’s 2-1 victory over Niger on Friday.
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