Kasper Schmeichel Signs for City
 (Story by IC WALES)

Cardiff City have signed Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel on a one-month loan deal.

Schmeichel has not played for City for over a month and has now fallen down to third on the goalkeeping pecking order.

The 20-year-old was set to join Coventry this week until they were hit by a Football League transfer embargo.

Cardiff manager Dave Jones is keen to strengthen his defence after seeing his side concede 15 goals in their last eight Championship games.

The Bluebirds, who currently have veteran Michael Oakes as their first-choice stopper, pushed through a deal with City on Thursday evening.

Schmeichel kept four clean sheets in his first six games for City at the beginning of the season, and signed a new four-year deal with the club last month.

But he has since fallen behind Joe Hart and Andreas Isaksson, and manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is keen for the youngster to go out on loan to secure some first-team action.

"This does not mean Kasper has no future here, he just needs to get some games," said Eriksson.

Schmeichel joined Manchester City in 2002 on a long term contract, on a deal which deals with schoolboy, scholar and professional terms. Schmeichel joined League Two side Darlington on loan in January 2006, where he made his professional first team debut against Peterborough United at the 96.6 TFM Arena on January 14, 2006. Darlington won the game 2-1, with Schmeichel conceding a goal to Peterborough striker James Quinn. He gained his first clean sheet three days later against Grimsby Town. He made two further appearances before returning to Manchester City. One month later he was loaned out again, this time to Bury in February, where he made 15 appearances in a three month loan spell. He returned to Bury for a further three months the following season.

Schmeichel joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on loan from January 2007 until the end of the 2006-07 season. He was named man of the match against Rangers on February 18, 2007. Schmeichel revealed in May he would have liked his loan at Falkirk extended and Falkirk expressed an interest in signing him.

Schmeichel made his Manchester City debut against West Ham United in August 2007. He played against City's rivals Manchester United on the 19 August 2007 and kept a clean sheet in City's 1-0 home win. Having played all five of Manchester City's games in the Premier League so far in the 2007-08 season, he has now conceded 4 goals. Schmeichel saved a penalty from Arsenal's Robin van Persie on 25th August 2007, despite City losing 1-0 to Arsenal.

On August 23, 2007 it was reported in the Daily Mirror that England are investigating Kasper Schmeichel's international status, to see if there is any chance of him forsaking Denmark, for whom he had already played multiple youth matches, for Steve McClaren's England side. However, Schmeichel stated that he will only play for Denmark. He signed a new four-year deal with City in September 2007. This was then followed up with an agreement to go on a one-month loan with Championship side Cardiff City, signed on the 25 October 2007.