Basel captain and record player Fabian Frei is returning to his youth club Winterthur with immediate effect after 20 years.
The 35-year-old from Thurgau has terminated his contract with FC Basel, which is valid until 2025, and is moving to the Super League rivals from the Zurich agglomeration on a free transfer with immediate effect. This was announced by the clubs on Monday.
Although Frei is from eastern Switzerland, he was one of FC Basel's identification figures. He moved to the FCB youth ranks back in 2004 after playing in Frauenfeld and Winterthur. The 24-time Swiss international made his first-team debut in 2007 and has since played 543 competitive games for the Bebbi, making him Basel's record player ahead of Massimo Ceccaroni (452 games).
Frei's palmarès with FCB includes five league titles and three cup victories in addition to various magical Champions League nights. He played for St. Gallen between 2009 and 2011 and for Mainz in the Bundesliga between 2015 and 2018. He was no longer a regular at FC Basel this season. In Winterthur, the versatile veteran should immediately provide more stability to a team that started the season with one win in six games under coach Ognjen Zaric.
"At the moment, it's an incredibly strange feeling for me to no longer be part of FCB after such a long, successful and wonderful time. On the other hand, I am very pleased that we have now come to this solution together," explained Frei in the FC Basel statement.
Frei added that he had to accept that he would not have been able to play many more minutes at FCB. "I'm all the happier that I've found myself with FC Winterthur and can now bring all my experience to my youth club with great motivation. I believe that I still have some good games at the highest level in my legs."
