Bundesliga
Ginter set for Freiburg return from Gladbach
Matthias Ginter is set to renew acquaintances with his former club, Freiburg, after the central defender agreed to a switch to the Black Forest side from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The 28-year-old returns to Christian Streich's high-flying side, who are currently competing for a top-four finish and face Leipzig in this month's DFB Cup final, on an undisclosed deal and will wear the number 28. His signing comes the day after Nico Schlotterbeck's departure to Borussia Dortmund was confirmed.
"Matze can give our defence stability and also help us in build-up play with his ability on the ball. We want to take on the big challenges of next season as a team and club together with Matze," said sporting director Klemens Hartenbach.
Ginter - who is a native of Freiburg im Breisgau - rose through the youth ranks of his home-town club before making a goalscoring Bundesliga debut under current coach Streich shortly after turning 18. He went on to make 81 appearances for Freiburg in the German top flight between 2012 and 2014, earning him a move to Borussia Dortmund.
The 6'3 central defensive specialist lifted the German Supercup in his first match with BVB and would later collect a DFB Cup winners' medal in 2017. In all, Ginter played just over a century of Bundesliga games for Dortmund before deciding to test the waters at Gladbach.
'Matze' - as he is known among his teammates - has been a defensive mainstay with the Foals for the last five campaigns, his reliability and positional versatility winning him plenty of plaudits. To date, Ginter has scored 11 times in 178 games in all competitions for Die Fohlen, who will conclude their 2021/22 campaign with matches against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hoffenheim.
"I wanted to do something else special in my career, and there's nothing more special for me than returning home to Freiburg," Ginter told the club's website. "The development of the whole club, the potential of the team and the manner of the exchange with the club in recent weeks - finding all that in my hometown can only be described as a stroke of luck nowadays."
On the international front, Ginter is a FIFA World Cup winner - lifting the trophy the summer he first left Freiburg - as well as a Confederations Cup champion and 2016 Olympic silver medallist with Germany, for whom he has won 46 senior caps, scoring twice. He will now look to enhance his standing in the game even further, with Freiburg's ranks set to be bolstered by a player who has been hailed as a "leader" by Germany legend Lothar Matthäus.