Kasper Schmeichel has expressed his long-standing admiration for Celtic and specifically, Brendan Rodgers, as he gears up to take on the role of the Hoops' first-choice goalkeeper this season.

The 37-year-old Danish internationalist recently inked a one-year contract with Rodgers’ squad, stepping in to fill the void left by Joe Hart, who announced his retirement at the conclusion of the last campaign.

Schmeichel, who joined the team during their pre-season tour in the United States and will mentor fellow newbie, Viljami Sinisalo, brings a wealth of experience to the reigning Scottish Premiership champions.

His footballing journey began at Manchester City, and he also had a productive loan stint at Falkirk in the Scottish top-flight during the 2006–07 season.

Having previously played under Rodgers at Leicester City, where they celebrated an FA Cup victory together in 2021, Schmeichel reflected on those moments as some of the most joyful of his career and described the Northern Irish boss as "a really important person" in his life.

With the pair reunited on this new adventure with Celtic, Schmeichel is eager to contribute to the club’s success and build on his past experiences - starting with the latest league curtain-raiser against Kilmarnock this Sunday. 

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“I look back at my career and the times I was probably at my best and happiest as a footballer was under Brendan at Leicester," the experienced shot-stopper confessed. 

“It was certainly the time I enjoyed football the most. I have a lot of positive memories so the chance to work with him again is obviously a big thing.

“Through the years, there has been a lot of different people coming along at different times when you have needed them.

“There has been coaches like John Hughes who gave me the chance in the top league, Sven-Goran Eriksson gave me my Premier League debut, Nigel Pearson gave me the confidence to think I could be a Premier League goalkeeper for a long time and obviously Brendan coming in helped to elevate me and made me believe.

“We got to an FA Cup final and won it which had never been done in Leicester’s history.

“You meet these people along the way and Brendan is a really important person in my life.”

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Schmeichel elaborated on what lured him to accept Celtic's offer to join the club after recent spells at Nice and Anderlecht since leaving the King Power Stadium two years ago. 

“There was always something with Celtic for some reason," he explained.

“We had Thomas Gravesen and Morten Wieghorst (former Denmark internationalists) playing here.

“It is just a club that always appealed to me in some kind of way and particularly these last few years, with Joe coming here, I followed it a lot closer than I ever did and having played here as a youngster, you get a real impression.

“You could see back then it wasn’t Falkirk getting headlines it was Celtic so you knew what the club was and the size of the club.”