Who will be City’s no.1?
Kasper Schmeichel’s place as City’s top goalkeeper is perhaps not as safe as it once was as he inches towards the final stages of his career. Danny Ward has been his deputy for four years, but for how much longer will he be content with that? And what of Daniel Iversen, player of the season on loan at Preston last summer? Three of our writers have their say on the keeper debate ....
Have the two Danes battle for number one shirt
Brendan Rodgers wants a ‘refresh’ of his squad this summer and the same could be about to take place on a smaller scale in his goalkeeping department.
Schmeichel has hinted his future may lie elsewhere with his contract set to expire next summer, while Ward only made one Premier League appearance last season but is capable of being a regular.
Ward has been a credit to the football club over the past four years, but the Welshman deserves weekly football and will likely be thinking the same.
The next six months may be the most important of Ward’s career ahead of this winter’s World Cup, Wales’ first since 1958.
If he were to leave in order to give himself the best chance of representing his country on the grandest stage, I don’t think anyone would begrudge him that move.
His departure would leave Schmeichel and Iversen to fight it out for the number one shirt.
Rodgers has previously called Schmeichel and Ward his “two number ones”, and Iversen is certainly capable of matching Ward in his ability to push his fellow Dane.
Rodgers likes to have three senior stoppers in his squad, so that would mean a new arrival.
Manchester City and Man United have done the same in recent years, with Scott Carson and Lee Grant filling the goalkeeping roles respectively.
For City, that could be someone like Aston Villa’s Jed Steer or perhaps Jason Steele of Brighton.
There are many goalkeepers who could fill that role, but those are two that fit the mould.
Jakub Stolarczyk and Brad Young would then be free to seek loan moves.
Chituru Odunze, Kelechi Chibueze and Arlo Doherty would then make up the group in the development squad next season.
AMIE WILSON: Integrate Iversen and extend Schmeichel’s deal
If there is one position in the City team that has been stable over the last few seasons it’s in goal. Since joining from Leeds United as part of Sven Goran Eriksson’s spending spree in 2011, Schmeichel has spent the majority of the last 11 seasons between the sticks, and it looks set to be the same for the 2022-23 season.
With just one year remaining on his contract and the City captain hinting that he could look for another challenge, there may be uncertainty in 12 months’ time.
But City should look to extend the goalkeeper’s deal if he wishes to do so.
While Schmeichel may now be entering the twilight of his career, his influence, not just in his shot stopping but also in his distribution (which I know can also be a source of frustration at times!) and his leadership on the pitch should not be underestimated.
For the last four seasons he has had Ward as a more than able deputy.
The Wales international has had to be patient, making his Premier League debut for the club in last season’s 5-1 win over Watford.
Having a goalkeeper with the quality of Ward to come in for Schmeichel should injury hit can only be a good thing for the club.
It also gives Rodgers the option to rotate for cup games.
The big decision to be made this season in my opinion is over the short-term future of Daniel Iversen.
With Eldin Jakupovic having left this summer, the natural thought would be that Iversen will be promoted to third choice.
Keeping the goalkeeper at the club this season, instead of sending him out on loan again, could help him to integrate with the defence in training every day.
Should he continue his development as expected, a season in and around the first team could then allow City to let Ward leave next summer as he searches for game time.
Schmeichel then could become a mentor to Iversen as one Dane slowly replaces another in what would be a new era in goal at the King Power Stadium.
JORDAN BLACKWELL: More important transfers to be done
The doubts surrounding the future of Schmeichel are not simply born out of his own admission that he may fancy a new challenge for the final years of his career.
It’s also because City have been checking the market for goalkeepers, with Brighton’s Robert Sanchez, right, linked.
Rodgers wants a refresh of his City squad, and it seems the most settled position in the team is not excluded from that.
But given the limits on funds for transfers this summer, and given the quality of the other goalkeepers in the squad, spending on a new number one feels unnecessary. There are other areas of the team that need addressing more urgently. In that sense, keeping Schmeichel as number one for the final year of his contract seems sensible and allows for a harmonious exit next summer. It seems he fully intends to see out his contract at City, even with one eye on what might come next. The links to Sanchez, who claims a higher percentage of crosses than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League, suggests Schmeichel’s reluctance to come off his line may be at the forefront of City’s thinking, especially with defending set-pieces their undoing last season.
But in 201920, they had one of the best records in the division at defending corners, and that was with Schmeichel in goal.
Ward is better at claiming crosses than Schmeichel, but City still conceded a hatful of chances from corners in the one game he played in the Premier League.
A goalkeeper that comes for the ball more regularly would help, but better organisation and aggression in the box is more important.
If Ward is happy to be patient, a fifth year as number two would ensure City are in safe hands should Schmeichel pick up an injury.
Given he got the Wales number one shirt while playing deputy at City, it should not harm his World Cup chances too much.
He should be afforded full cup campaigns this season though, rather than just the first few rounds.
That would start the preparations for next season, when Ward and Iversen could battle for the number one shirt.
Until then, Iversen is best served enjoying another season of regular football out on loan, either at a promotion-chasing Championship club, or if City want him to be busy, a lower-level Premier League club.
Stolarczyk would benefit from another loan too.
Then, rather than bring in another senior goalkeeper to be third choice when they are very rarely needed, Young can double up as the development squad’s number one and the back-up to Schmeichel and Ward.