With Paris Saint-Germain striker Pedro Pauleta seemingly on the wane, Rennes star Alexander Frei is ready to take over as the new Ligue 1 goal king.

The Switzerland international returned to the top of the French scoring charts with his 13th goal of the campaign at Metz on Saturday.

It was a typical Frei strike: Toifolou Maoulida’s shot taking two deflections before reaching Frei – positioned once again in the right place at the right time – and he slotted home with minimal fuss. Unspectacular, but clinical.

“I’m lucky at the moment,” Frei said with a grin. “I seem to be in the right place when the ball arrives.” The Rennes forward knows better than most that instinct, and not luck, is the key. “I’ll leave that for the journalists to judge,” he added.

In 2003-04, Frei’s first full season in Brittany, he netted 20 goals in 28 matches, finishing third in the scoring charts behind Djibril Cissé and Didier Drogba. The 25-year-old looks capable of improving on that tally this year, having netted four in his last four matches - and with Cissé and Drogba no longer in France, Frei could be rewarded with the golden boot in the summer.

“I’m scoring freely and seem to have come out of the dry patch the journalists were talking about," he said at the weekend. "That’s the life of a striker. Sometimes you can’t understand why the ball won’t go in, but then sometimes everything you hit is a goal.”

A stocky goalpoacher in the Gary Lineker mould, Frei has worked hard on all aspects of his game since arriving in France from Servette.

“My team play has improved,” he explained. “Unfortunately strikers only get judged by statistics. I’ve had some good games when I’ve earnt a penalty or set up a goal, but unless I actually score people will say I’m not doing well. Very few forwards score all the time.”

Frei’s return to form has coincided with Rennes’ impressive charge up the Ligue 1 standings. The team’s attacking play has been scintillating at times, but Frei is keen for the praise to be shared throughout the team.

“When we are scoring it’s thanks to the whole team, not Alex Frei. Likewise when we are not scoring, it is not only Alex Frei’s fault."

Frei, who was discarded by Basel as a 16-year-old, also appreciates the service he receives from midfield – and particularly from Olivier Monterrubio who sits atop the Ligue 1 assists table having laid on nine goals this season. “Let’s not pretend that Alex Frei is a man mountain,” he continued.

“Olivier Monterrubio, Kim Kallstrom, Olivier Sorlin, Toifolou Maoulida and I work seriously together. It's great to have such good players around me.

"Take Monterrubio, for example. I’ve been working with him for a year and a half and we’ve forged an understanding. We know where the other one will be on the pitch.”

Luckily for France, Monterrubio is not Swiss and will not be lining up alongside Frei when the Les Bleus entertain Switzerland at the Stade de France on March 26. But on this form, the Rennes goal machine is sure to carry a major threat to Raymond Domenech’s side all the same.