Kasper Schmeichel’s successor might already be at Leicester

As Leicester City legend Kasper Schmeichel enters the twilight of his career, the search is on to find his future replacement at LCFC.

However, the Foxes may already have a replacement in their goalkeeping ranks. Daniel Iversen joined Leicester in 2016 at the age of 18 and spent time in the youth system. Since 2018, he has spent the majority of that time playing at senior level, developing his game being loaned out to various clubs.

The 24-year-old is currently plying his trade at Preston North End in the Championship where he has showcased his shot-stopping ability. Subsequently he has earnt the praise of former fox and current Preston coach, Paul Gallagher.

"“What he does is makes big saves at big times, which wins you points. Long may that continue; we are lucky to have him really because I think he is one of those goalkeepers that could go and play at the highest level”Gallagher to Preston North End’s YouTube channel"

Iversen has proven himself as a great shot-stopper in his time on loan in the Championship, with plenty of reflex saves in his short time there. Another positive is the fact that he seems to have more of a presence in the box than his fellow countryman Schmeichel, who has come under scrutiny from the Blue Army for his reluctance to leave the six-yard-box in set pieces.

This season has shone a light on the importance of keepers coming out to retrieve crosses and that being a good, or in Schmeichel’s case elite shot-stopper isn’t enough.

Whilst the Preston loanee’s distribution isn’t of the highest quality, he still seems more confident on the ball than Schmeichel of late. At this stage of his career, Iversen is still not quite at the level of current Leicester City back-up goalkeeper, Danny Ward, however he isn’t far off.

However, he has got the potential to improve and play in the Premier League and seems to have the all-round skillset and consistency needed to play at the top-level. Iversen looks like he is being moulded as the future successor for Schmeichel, with him expected to be hitting the peak of his powers around the time that Leicester’s current number one either retires or moves on to another club.

The only issue is the fact that he doesn’t have any experience at the highest level as of yet, so it could be a risk to bring him straight in without any exposure in the Premier League. This will leave Brendan Rodgers with the tough predicament of blooding Iversen into the side so that he is ready by the time Schmeichel does depart. Whether that means potentially promoting him to back-up keeper and selling Ward remains to be seen.