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 lea ...

who plays as a winger for Elazığspor. Born in Austria, he plays for the Turkey national team. He previously played club football for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, Cardiff City, İstanbul Başakşehir,

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. The team compete in the ...

and Maccabi Haifa, and represented Switzerland up to under-21 level.

Early life

Frei was born in Feldkirch, 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 first qualifying round, second leg match against

NSÍ Runavík NSÍ Runavík is a Faroe Islands, Faroese professional association football, 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, t ...

of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, where he came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute replacing

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

. 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 at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

on 14 July 2011, receiving a yellow card in the 62nd minute. He made his first start in English competition in a League Cup third round fixture away to Chelsea on 21 September 2011 and made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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 of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

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 Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He was replaced by Bryan Ruiz in the 67th minute. On 9 April 2012 in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea, 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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, 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

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, 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. 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 Olcay Şahan (, born 26 May 1987) is a Turkish professional Association football, football manager and a former player who played as a winger (association football), winger or as an attacking midfielder. Born in Germany, he played for the Turkey ...

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 English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

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 level 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 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.

Loans to Maccabi Haifa and FC Emmen

He spent the second half of the 2018–19 season on loan at Maccabi Haifa. After returning to his parent club and having little playing time, Frei joined Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

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

Emmen

On 16 January 2021, Frei joined Eredivise club Emmen permanently, signing a one-and-a-half contract.

Manisa FK

On 4 July 2023, Frei joined Turkish 1.Lig side Manisa FK on a 2-year deal, with a 1-year option.

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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frei, Kerim 1993 births Living people Footballers from Feldkirch, Vorarlberg Swiss men's footballers Turkish men's footballers Austrian emigrants to Switzerland Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's international footballers Men's 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 Manisa F.K. footballers Elazığspor footballers Premier League players English Football League players Süper Lig players Israeli Premier League players Eredivisie players TFF 1. Lig players Turkish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Swiss sportspeople of Turkish descent Swiss people of Moroccan descent Turkish people of Moroccan descent 21st-century Swiss sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen