Not particularly big (1.79m) and not particularly quick, Alexander Frei hardly subscribes to the athletic norms of modern day strikers, but as Ajaccio’s David Terrier points out, when it comes to the 25-year-old striker, none of that really matters. “I couldn’t even say he’s a good player,” said the defender. “When you mark Frei, you pass a relatively easy evening. You could even say that it’s fun looking after him. But at the end of the match, you suddenly see that you’ve lost 2-0 and he scored them both.”

Seven goals in seven games between March and April 2005 underlined Frei’s emergence as Ligue 1’s deadliest marksman - not bad for someone who two years before was plying his trade in the reserves and contemplating a return to his homeland.

In January 2003 Frei signed for Rennes for hefty €2m, but arrived in Brittany after a five-week Christmas break and was not match fit. Coach Vahid Halihodzic was brutal in his criticism as he dumped his new striker unceremoniously to the reserves until he was physically up to scratch.

Frei - well known for being headstrong and impetuous from his time with FC Servette - didn’t take the criticism lightly, as he later revealed. “I was convinced signing for Rennes was a huge mistake,” he said. “There wasn’t a single day when I didn’t think about heading home. But I also thought about staying, to prove I wasn’t just this little Swiss kid that quit at the first sign of trouble.”

During his first season in France, Frei made just five appearances with the first team, scoring once, and by the time Halilhodzic left for Paris Saint-Germain, to be replaced by Romanian Laszlo Bölöni, he was no longer a priority for the modest first division outfit.

Used to being underestimated, Frei was quick to realise circumstances weren’t going to change with a new man in charge and on the eve of the new season he demanded a meeting with Bölöni. “We had a long chat and at the end he said to me: ‘Coach, just give me three games. I’ll prove what I’m worth.’ I agreed,” recounted the Coach. “I waited for a favourable period in the calendar and I respected my part of the bargain and he respected his. He scored two goals and won his deal.”

Frei finished the 2003-04 season as the League’s second top scorer with 19 goals from 28 games and he hasn't looked back since.