'I knew immediately I'd made a mistake joining Leeds - I never felt accepted'

A former Leeds United player admitted signing for the club was a mistake he quickly realised

Kasper Schmeichel said he knew signing for Leeds United was a massive mistake just three weeks after his arrival.

The 39-year-old - who retired from football earlier this year - joined the Whites in 2010 after impressing at Notts County. It was Leeds' first season back in the Championship following promotion from League One.

Despite making 37 appearances during the campaign, Schmeichel was shipped off to Leicester in the summer of 2011, marking a strange end to his brief career at Elland Road. The former Denmark international voiced his regret for joining the club during his appearance on Joe Hart's YouTube series Gloved in 2019.

He said: "I remember about three weeks after joining Leeds thinking, 'What have I done?!' It was just the wrong club for me at that time." Schmeichel claimed his father Peter's association with Manchester United - a bitter rival of Leeds - played a part in failing to connect with the club.

He added: "It was very clear, very early on that it was the wrong club for me. It was a club where I was not accepted and with my father's history, it was evident among the fans that they did not approve of that.

"I just didn't feel welcome at all at the club, by the whole club, that's the manager (Simon Grayson) as well. He didn't give me any kind of confidence. I had a decent season, I thought. I didn't set the world alight but I had a solid enough season, but I did not enjoy my time there at all. It was a really bad time."

The opportunity to seek pastures new presented itself to him after the season during his summer holidays. Kasper explained: "Then I was at home in Denmark [for the summer]. Sven [-Goran Eriksson] called me and said, 'Do you want to come to Leicester?' I was like, 'Yes, get me away.'

"But then after I'd spoken to him, I thought, 'I'm moving, moving, moving. I need to stay somewhere. People will see me as this guy that will play here, play there. I need to tough this out. I've got to stay.'"

However, the move to the Foxes soon came to fruition, with the future Premier League winner finding out via a phone call from his friend. He added: "About two weeks go by, I'm in Copenhagen still when one of my friends rings me and goes, 'Congratulations!'

"What do you mean?' 'You've moved to Leicester!' 'What do you mean I've moved to Leicester?! How do you know about that?' 'It's all over the news.' It's on all the Danish papers that I'm signing for Leicester. There's an official statement from Leeds, an official comment from Simon Grayson that they'd reached an agreement.

"I drove up to my dad's house and we turned the TV on, we had English TV, and it was on the ticker tape on Sky Sports. I'm sat there in Denmark thinking, 'What is going on here?' I tried ringing the club, but no-one is picking their phone up. Finally, a few hours later, I get a call from Simon Grayson, who said they'd accepted a deal.

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"So I had to put out a statement saying Leeds had accepted a deal but it was without my knowledge. If they want me to leave, we'll have to talk about it. Then I had Ken Bates ring me and the gist was that either I left or I was with the academy for the season.

"I'd already said no to Leicester at this point because I thought I needed to play. They were in the process of signing someone else. So I had to ring Sven and say, 'I don't know what's going on here, but if you want me, I'm here 100 per cent. I want to work for you again.'

"He rang me back and said, 'We're a bit far down the line with someone else.' I was tearing my hair sat in Denmark and all this is carnage. In the end, he rang me back about 11 at night and said, 'We'll get it done.'"

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Orijinal haber: https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/leeds-united-signing-transfer-regret-34371559