Six Christian Fuchs Career Highlights
The 33-year-old’s new deal will see him extend his stay at King Power Stadium into a fifth season – a passage of time which has included unprecedented success for the Football Club.
While Fuchs will always be remembered for his crucial role in the stunning Premier League title success of 2016, his broader impact at the Club is felt on a daily basis.
A popular figure in the changing room, the Austrian has made 118 appearances for the Foxes across four different competitions and his presence continues to be felt today – proven by him winning the Club’s 2018/19 Goal of the Season prize.
To celebrate the announcement of another year being added to Fuchs’ Leicester City career, here are six moments which stand out from his entire time in football…
Starting out
Fuchs was born in 1986 in the modest city of Neunkirchen in Lower Austria and, as an aspiring striker, he progressed through the Wiener Neustädter academy set-up from the age of 11. While still studying at school, a youthful Fuchs signed his first deal at SV Mattersburg, who attracted crowds almost double of the city’s 6,000-strong population. Eventually joining German outfit VfL Bochum, a successful loan move to FSV Mainz followed, in which the Rhineland-Palatinate-based side finished fifth, and Fuchs’ career hurtled into a defining stage.
A goal at the Bernabéu
Fuchs’ stellar form at Mainz led to another move, to seven-time German champions Schalke 04, in 2011 and they were able to secure a UEFA Champions League berth during 2012/13. Emerging from a group which included Steaua București, FC Basel and Chelsea, Fuchs and his Schalke team-mates were handed a daunting two-legged Last-16 tie with Real Madrid. Despite losing the first leg 2-0 at the stunning VELTINS-Arena, Die Knappen actually won 4-3 at Santiago Bernabéu – with Fuchs scoring their opener – but it wasn’t enough to progress.
Captain of his country
At just 20-years-old, Fuchs made his senior Austria debut in a 2006 friendly fixture against Croatia and also starred for his country on home soil in UEFA Euro 2008, a 1-0 loss to Germany. The absence of regular captain Marc Janko in 2010, meanwhile, afforded Fuchs with the opportunity to step into the role as skipper of the Austrian national team. His maiden international goal came in a 2-1 loss to Greece in November 2010 and Fuchs, capped 78 times, captained all 10 qualifiers and the three subsequent Euro 2016 group stage fixtures.
Moving to England
Fuchs arrived at King Power Stadium in the summer preceding their breathtaking 2015/16 title success. Italian manager Claudio Ranieri arrived shortly after his transfer and, despite initially not playing during the early weeks of the season, the Austrian left-back quickly became a reliable figure in the City line-up. He made 32 appearances across his maiden season in England, famously providing the assist for Jamie Vardy’s record-breaking goal against Manchester United in November 2016.
A Premier League champion
As Leicester closed in on the title, it was clear that each and every match would be a battle for points as scorelines narrowed and the pressure increased with each passing week. City needed to be defensively solid if they were to withstand a late run from Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal – and they did exactly that. Since late February, they kept seven clean sheets in 12 matches – all of which Fuchs contributed to – as Ranieri’s men completed possibly the greatest fairy tale in football history with their left-back playing all but six fixtures that year.
Another year in Leicester
Over his time in the city, Fuchs has very much entrenched himself as a prominent part of Leicester life, building his No Fuchs Given business in the city and also organising the Fox Soccer Academy for aspiring footballers. In recent times he has remained a reliable figure at left-back, making a total of 118 appearances for the Foxes so far. "The Club and our fans have always been great with me and I want to give back as much as possible," he said after signing his new deal.