Kasper Schmeichel has been linked with a shock return to former club Leicester City
after frustrating some of his team-mates at Nice despite joining just a year ago
Kasper
Schmeichel could be set to leave Nice this summer after one year at the Ligue 1
outfit.
Schmeichel, 36, left Leicester at the end of last season and made the switch to
the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-owned side in search of a new experience and challenge. The
Denmark international made over 400 appearances for the Foxes and helped them win the
Premier League and FA Cup during his time in charge.
However, it is safe to say
Schmeichel's time at Nice hasn't gone to plan. Despite their spending spree last
summer, Nice currently sit ninth and have nothing to play for. They crashed out of the
Europa Conference League in the quarter-final and are nine points off the European
places with two games to go.
Schmeichel's adaptation to life in France has not been
straightforward and his team-mates have grown frustrated with his training methods. The
ex-Foxes goalkeeper manages himself and prefers to run his own sessions, rather than
join in with the rest of the squad, as he did at Leicester.
According to L'Equipe, his
training schedule, coupled with a lack of leadership, are raising tensions at the club.
His freedom has annoyed some of his team-mates, who are having to follow a strict
routine. It is understood Schmeichel also fails to motivate the group despite his
invaluable experience in the game.
This is despite Schmeichel performing well all
season in between the sticks. The Danish stopper has conceded a respectable 32 goals in
34 league appearances, keeping 11 clean sheets in the process. They have the
second-meanest defensive record in Ligue 1, behind Lens and better than Paris
Saint-Germain.
Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)
But Schmeichel's future is firmly in
doubt. His relationship with second-choice 'keeper Marcin Bulka has fractured, and one
will not stay beyond the end of the season. Bulka has been absent since the end of
October but is set to return to full fitness in pre-season.
Schmeichel has been linked
with a shock return to Leicester. The Foxes have had their struggles in goal so far
this season, with Danny Ward struggling after being handed the no.1 shirt by Brendan
Rodgers. Meanwhile, Daniel Iversen has improved the defence since his introduction, but
it may not be enough to save them.
Leicester head to Newcastle on Monday night in a
critical game at both ends of the Premier League table. The Foxes sit three points from
safety but a win will pull them out of the relegation zone on goal difference ahead of
their final day home game against West Ham.
Speaking on Monday Night Football earlier
this month, Schmeichel said: "I don’t think my chapter with Leicester will ever end. I
still say we, the club will always be a part [of me].
"I came to Leicester as a young
man needing a home and needing somewhere to be accepted for who I was and not for what
everyone else thought I should be. Leicester gave me that, and even after 11 years
there’s still something unwritten for me there."
