Opinion: Schmeichel was a different breed

I remember the protracted bid to sign the Dane from Brondby and, according to newspapers at the time, the haggling over the fee that was taking place. One of the Sunday tabloids suggested the Reds were at serious risk of losing our top target to another English side and I was seriously worried we’d lose out on him. He simply appeared to be the perfect fit at the time.

Goalkeeping coach Alan Hodgkinson had scouted the Scandinavian and was convinced he had identified the right man to take over the gloves – in the previous season Les Sealey, Gary Walsh and Mark Bosnich had all played. “Having established our interest, I rang Alex [Ferguson],” recalled Hodgkinson in his autobiography. “'He's the…