Sports Kasper Schmeichel urges Chelsea target Ben Chilwell not to follow N'Golo Kante in leaving Leicester

Kasper Schmeichel has warned that ‘the grass is not always greener’ for players who leave Leicester City.

The Denmark international believes the former Premier League champions are on the verge of breaking up the established ‘Big Six’ of Manchester United and City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

Leicester sit third in the table under Brendan Rodgers despite back-to-back draws since the restart leaving supporters looking over their shoulders in the top-four race with Schmeichel saving a crucial penalty in the stalemate against Brighton last time out.

Yet ever since their title win in 2016, Leicester have lost a key player in every summer window: N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater to Chelsea, Riyad Mahrez to Man City and Harry Maguire to United.

Young full-back Ben Chilwell is the latest of their stars to attract attention with Chelsea, the club Leicester face in the FA Cup quarter-final today, keen to sign the England international.

‘We have had N’Golo and Riyad (leave) -- N’Golo had a buy-out clause which was unfortunate for us — but when you look at the squad here there’s a lot of players who choose to stay here,’ said Schmeichel, who joined Leicester from Leeds nine years ago.

‘Jamie Vardy could have moved (when he turned down Arsenal in 2016). He chose to stay here, it’s a project that he wants to be part of. I’ve stayed here for many years. It’s a project that I like being part of.

‘It’s a case of looking at the opportunities that come along and you ask yourself: ‘Is this going to be better for me? Am I going to improve myself as a keeper? The grass is not always greener on the other side.

‘It is about recognising what you do have and being grateful for what you do have. What I have here is a club that took me in at a time during my career when I felt so unwelcome and they made me feel so wanted. From what we have done together, it’s created a unique bond.

‘Speaking to other players around the league, no other club communicates like we do. This club makes you feel valued, it makes you feel special. All the highs and lows we have had together it’s become very much like family. I haven’t seen a relationship between owners, players and staff anywhere like you have here.

‘When we play Chelsea with N’Golo or Riyad with Manchester City, these players always come into our dressing-room afterwards and they always say: “Yeah, it’s great where we are, but we miss the people and the spirit at Leicester”.’

Kante and Mahrez have gone on to win further Premier League titles since leaving Leicester, while Drinkwater’s career has fallen apart and Maguire is captain of a United side sitting beneath them in table.

While manager Brendan Rodgers has said before that Leicester will never be able to match the finances of the established elite, Schmeichel points to the fact that Leicester will soon move into their new £100m training ground and are planning their stadium expansion.

‘English football’s history is so rich and the size of the clubs around, the so-called big six, are so big that it is difficult to break into that for a club like Leicester,’ added Schmeichel.

‘But when you look at the structures, the parameters we are working within and are in place. This club is run like a top club. With time, I believe we can get there. We have the best manager we could possibly have. The best owner we could possibly have.

‘Everything is in place for us to kick on. We will soon have one of the best training grounds in Europe, if not the world. Expansion plans for the stadium are in place. Everything is there for us to kick on and become one of the bigger clubs. For us, we need to continue the work we are doing. Everything is going in the right direction.’

For that Leicester need to secure their place in the Champions League. Some more silverware would help, too. Today they face an FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, the team who have knocked them out of the competition at this stage the last twice Leicester reached the last eight in 2018 and 2012. Leicester have been to four finals and lost them all.

Leicester’s players had pledged to win a trophy this season in honour of their late chairman who died in the helicopter crash at the King Power Stadium in October 2018. They had reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, only to lose to Aston Villa.

‘Do I feel like it’s the final box to tick? Very much so,’ said Schmeichel. ‘Winning anything is always the goal but the FA Cup is something special.’