Duden Park, Sunday evening. We've been playing for 94 minutes and 38 seconds when Cameron Puertas finally raises his arms to the sky. His volley is perfect, he sees the ball in the back of the Anderlecht net. But with great relaxation, Kasper Schmeichel managed to prevent the ball from crossing his goal line. The stoppage went unnoticed because referee Van Driessche called a prior handball by Sykes. Otherwise, Schmeichel's save could have been the title stopper. Like that of Thibaut Courtois in 2011 with Genk in the 86th in front of Aloys Nong from Standard.
Schmeichel is the same goalie who had trouble getting off the mark on the long shot from Kento Misao of OHL (5-1) at 0-1 on October 21 of last year. The Dane seemed to have arrived at Anderlecht with a few extra kilos, sowing doubts among pro-Maxime Dupé supporters and provoking mocking laughter among opponents. The final affront was the speech of Carl Hoefkens (”Shoot in the corner, their goalkeeper doesn’t know how to dive to the post”) in the locker room during half-time of Anderlecht – Standard.
Schmeichel only played 8 matches in the Champions League. Would the championship title be the carrot?
Since that embarrassing moment – or has it been since Dupé left for Nice? – Schmeichel’s performances follow an upward curve. They are experiencing a climax in these playoffs. Schmeichel is the best goalkeeper of the six, he has not yet made the slightest mistake and he transmits his rage to win in combination with his Olympian calm to the rest of the team. Without forgetting its recovery capabilities. Schmeichel is almost a libero from the 80s. Suddenly, he became one of the most reliable and important players on the team.
Even if there were doubts internally, a departure of the Danish number 1 would be a big loss. The player believes he has not yet made his decision. As is the case for Jan Vertonghen, it is not excluded that he will wait until the end of the Euro to decide. In the entry-level contract he signed at the beginning of September, he had added a clause stating that he would earn double his current salary in the event of a contract extension. Even if it exceeds 500,000 euros, it would not be an exaggerated salary for a player of his level.
But for someone who was number 1 in the Premier League for eight seasons, money is no longer the only criterion for signing for club X or Y. His family situation is just as crucial. Do his wife and children want to live permanently in Belgium? And the sporting aspect could also convince him to stay. An appearance in the Champions League could be the carrot he needs to sign until 2025. So far, he only has eight Champions League games under his belt – Leicester were knocked out in the quarters against Atlético Madrid in 2016-2017. Only the Belgian champion will have a direct ticket for the C1 groups.
Peretz (Bayern) is one of the candidates for the possible succession of Schmeichel, given that Kikkenborg is far from ready.
In the meantime, Fredberg has therefore started talks with potential successors. One of the candidates is the Israeli-German Peretz, but there are others. Anderlecht want an experienced goalkeeper who is strong in construction. This could mean Schmeichel doesn't stay. The Dane's name has already been mentioned in the Premier League – he did not want to go to bottom side Sheffield United in January but is also on the list of other second-tier clubs. A return to England should be taken seriously.
The fact that Anderlecht is so active on the goalkeeper market confirms that Mads Kikkenborg (24 years old) is not (yet?) ready to succeed Schmeichel. Transferred last winter from Lyngby, he needs more time to adapt than expected. Or did Sporting get him wrong? Kikkenborg was even overtaken by Colin Coosemans, excellent in the matches against Cercle Bruges. Anderlecht cannot take the risk of starting the season with the Coosemans – Kikkenborg duo. But in the meantime, the files of Schmeichel and possible successors are priorities on Fredberg's desk.
