Leeds United defender Isaac Schmidt has revealed that he has been backed to eventually become a regular in the Yorkshire giants’ backline.
Towards the end of the summer transfer window, Leeds made the decision to commit to a £2.5m deal to sign Schmidt from St Gallen.
Having contributed seven goals and 20 assists from his 108 outings for the Swiss side, it appeared realistic to expect the 25-year-old to earn minutes for the Championship side.
Instead, the versatile full-back has only been provided with 25 minutes of football in the second tier of English football, those outings spread across seven matches.
While Schmidt has made two starts in the FA Cup, against Harrogate Town and Millwall respectively, his last game time in the Championship came on Boxing Day.
Schmidt reassured by Farke?
Speaking on the back of a surprise call-up to the Switzerland squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers, Schmidt has suggested that he has no long-term concerns regarding his future at Elland Road.
He said, as quoted by Blick: “The training sessions at Leeds are of a completely different quality than they were in St. Gallen. Even though I’m not playing, I’ve gotten used to the fast pace.
“The club showed me clear prospects and made it clear to me that they see the potential in me to become a regular starter.
“England is a different world than Switzerland. I only moved shortly before the transfer deadline. It takes time to establish yourself at a club like that. I’m waiting for my chance.”
Switzerland selection ‘a surprise’
Given his lack of game time, Schmidt justifiably had no expectation of a call-up for Switzerland this month, yet he has been named in the squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Northern Ireland and Luxembourg.
Commenting on the selection, Schmidt said: “I was surprised myself. A number I didn’t recognise called me, and suddenly someone spoke German and said he was Murat Yakin.”
With Schmidt not earning Under-21 recognition with Switzerland, he will view it as a major moment in his career if he can feature in either of the upcoming double-header.
Schmidt is one of six uncapped players in the squad at a time when experienced defenders such as Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi and Silvan Widmer all miss out through injury.
