Kerim Frei Koyunlu (born 19 November 1993) is a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a winger for

Fatih Karagümrük Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...

. Born in Austria, he represents the Turkish national team. He previously played club football for Fulham, Cardiff City, İstanbul Başakşehir, Beşiktaş,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

and

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

, and represented Switzerland up to under-21 level.

Early life

Frei was born in

Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to: Places * Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria ** Feldkirch (district), an administrative division of Vorarlberg, Austria * Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the munici ...

, Austria, to a Turkish father and a Moroccan mother and was raised in Switzerland.

Career

Fulham

Frei made his first team début on 7 July 2011 in Fulham's

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

first qualifying round, second leg match against

NSÍ Runavík NSÍ Runavík is a Faroese football club, playing in Runavík on the island of Eysturoy. It was founded 24 March 1957. In 2003 NSÍ participated for the first time on a European stage. In 2007, the club won the Faroe Islands Premier League fo ...

of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, where he came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute replacing Andrew Johnson. Following his debut, Huw Jennings gave his thoughts about Frei debut to Fulham.com: Frei then went on to make his first start for Fulham, playing on the right wing in the Europa League second qualifying round, first leg match against

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

on 14 July 2011, receiving a yellow card in the 62nd minute. He made his first start in English competition in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

third round fixture away to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 21 September 2011 and made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

début on 10 December 2011, coming on a substitute for Mousa Dembélé in an away match against Swansea City. Fulham lost the match 2–0. Frei scored his first senior goal for Fulham in the Europa League 2–2 draw against

Odense BK Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

at Craven Cottage, side footing home from a Dembélé through ball. On 16 March 2012, Frei signed a contract extension with Fulham, lasting until the summer of 2015. A week later, Frei started in Fulham's 1–0 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United. He was replaced by

Bryan Ruiz Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (; born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former footballer. A left-footed attacking midfielder, he also played as a second striker. Ruiz is the only Central American footballer to have played in the UEFA Champions ...

in the 67th minute. On 9 April 2012 in a 1–1 draw against

, Frei received the Man of the Match award from Sky Television for his performance. On 26 October 2012, Frei joined Cardiff City on loan until 2 December. His first appearance was against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, coming on in the 83rd minute for Craig Noone. On 22 November, Frei was recalled to Fulham after 3 appearances.

Beşiktaş

Frei joined Turkish club Beşiktaş on 6 September 2013, signing a five-year deal. He made his league debut on 22 September 2013 in a 3–0 loss to

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, coming on in the 80th minute for Veli Kavlak. He scored his first league goal for Besiktas over a year later in a 3–2 loss to

Kayseri Erciyesspor Kayseri Erciyesspor was a Turkish sports club based in Kayseri. History In 1965, Orhan Şefik Apak, then president of the Turkish Football Federation, asked cities in Turkey to combine their amateur football clubs into one singular club that wo ...

. He scored a brace in this game, one goal in the 70th minute, the other in the 85th, coming after he had come on for an injured Olcay Şahan in the 37th minute.

Birmingham City

On 20 January 2017, Frei returned to English football, signing for

on a three-and-a-half-year contract. The fee was an initial €2.25 million, potentially rising to €3.5M. He made his debut in the EFL Championship the following day, as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw away to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, but never established himself in the team. He finished the season with 13 league appearances, only 3 of which were in the starting eleven, and was an unused substitute 16 times. He scored once, with a free kick away to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

on 14 April; Frei "stepped up and arrowed the ball straight and dipping beyond otherham's goalkeeper to win the club's Goal of the Season award but not the match.

İstanbul Başakşehir

After just six months with Birmingham City, Frei returned to Turkey. He signed a four-year contract with İstanbul Başakşehir on 21 July 2017. He made his league debut for his new club on 19 August 2017 in a 3–1 loss to

Kardemir Karabükspor Kardemir Demir Çelik Karabükspor or simply known as Kardemir Karabükspor or Karabükspor is a Turkish sports club based in Karabük. The team was founded in 1969 after a merger between "Karabük Gençlikspor" and "Demir Çelik Spor". The club ...

. He spent the second half of the 2018–19 season on loan at

, and after returning to his parent club but playing little, joined Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club Emmen in January 2020 on loan with an option to purchase.

International career

Frei switched national team allegiances from Switzerland to Turkey in June 2012.Fulham starlet Kerim Frei opts to represent Turkish National Team
Turkish-football.com He represented

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

Career statistics

Honours

Beşiktaş J.K. *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frei, Kerim 1993 births Living people People from Feldkirch, Vorarlberg Swiss footballers Turkish footballers Citizens of Turkey through descent Austrian emigrants to Switzerland Switzerland youth international footballers Switzerland under-21 international footballers Turkey youth international footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey international footballers Association football midfielders Fulham F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Birmingham City F.C. players İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players FC Emmen players Fatih Karagümrük S.K. footballers Premier League players English Football League players Süper Lig players Israeli Premier League players Eredivisie players Turkish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Israel Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Swiss people of Turkish descent Swiss people of Moroccan descent Turkish people of Moroccan descent