'Medical passed' as ex-Leeds United goalkeeper who criticised 'disrespectful' fans close to Celtic move

Former Leeds United goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel will soon be announced as a Celtic player after multiple reports claimed a full agreement had been reached between club and player.

Celtic were forced to prioritise signing a first-choice goalkeeper, following Joe Hart’s decision to retire at the end of last season after an illustrious career at club and international level. Schmeichel emerged as one of several options being weighed up by the serial Scottish Premiership champions but competition was rife, with the experienced shot-stopper a free agent after leaving Anderlecht earlier this summer.

Brendan Rodgers’ side look to have got their man, however, with multiple reports going into the weekend suggesting an agreement was close to being reached. The most recent report from Football Insider now claims a deal could be complete as early as Saturday evening, with Schmeichel having already passed his medical and agreed personal terms over a move to Parkhead.

Schmeichel spent just one season at Leeds, having joined them to become first-choice goalkeeper during the 2010/11 season - their first back in the Championship after three years in League One. The young goalkeeper impressed during his time at Elland Road but struggled to escape from the links between his father, Peter Schmeichel, and fierce rivals Manchester United.

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Leeds eventually sold Schmeichel to Leicester City the following summer, with a fee of just £1.5million now looking like a bargain after 11 years at the King Power Stadium in which he won the Premier League and FA Cup. The Danish international recently reflected on his ill-fated spell in West Yorkshire and was critical of fans who chanted about his dad in the stands.

"As soon as Sven [Goran-Eriksson, Leicester manager at the time] called me, I wanted it straight away," Schmeichel told The Rest Is Football podcast of his 2011 move to Leicester. "I didn't enjoy my time at Leeds, which is a shame because it's an incredible club. I think it was just the timing. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong person.

“I was probably very immature in my way of being, and I felt at the time some of the things that were said about my dad were very disrespectful. When you're calling my dad certain names, it's not gonna endear me. They used to sing a chant - I won't repeat the word - that said, 'Your dad's something, but you're alright.' And [now I'm older] I get the banter of it, but still you're calling my dad something that's never gonna sit well with me."

Schmeichel called time on an incredible spell at Leicester in the summer of 2022, with his farewell filled with emotion after the odds-defying Premier League triumph and tragic death of club owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, in 2018 after his helicopter crashed while leaving a game against West Ham United. He went on to play for Nice and then Anderlecht before what looks to be a fresh challenge at Celtic.