A professional football player from Germany, Manuel Friedrich plays as a defender. Friedrich began his youth career playing for SG Guldental. He joined the club at a very young age and left it at the age of 16. He moved to Mainz 05, in 1995, and joined their youth setup.
For four seasons, Friedrich was a part of the youth setup at Mainz, before breaking into the first team squad. Between 1999 and 2002, Friedrich played over 60 games for the club, scoring 8 goals in the process.
Friedrich made a move to Werder Bremen, in 2002, but was considered not good enough for first team action. He was sent to play with the B-team at Werder Bremen, spending a year with the lower division side. After just 13 games in 2003-04, Friedrich decided to look for first team action and moved back to Mainz 05, where he began his professional career.
| Position | Defender |
| Height / weight | 1.89 m / 83 kg |
| Born | 13 Sep 1979 |
| Nationality |
Germany
|
| Team History | |
Dortmund
|
2013 - 2014 |
| Mumbai City FC | 2014 |
Leverkusen
|
2007 - 2013 |
Mainz
|
2004 - 2007 |
Werder Bremen
|
2002 - 2004 |
|
Werder Bremen
|
2003 |
|
Mainz
|
2000 - 2002 |
|
Mainz
|
1998 - 2000 |
The move worked as Friedrich was a regular for Mainz, over the next three seasons, playing almost a 120 games and helped the team reach top-flight. At the end of 2007, when Mainz were relegated, Friedrich left for Bayer Leverkusen.
Since 2007, Leverkusen have used Friedrich regularly, as a defensive midfielder. A regular in the first team now, Friedrich has played over a 110 games for Leverkusen, scoring 10 goals in the process. For the German national team, Friedrich has been a part of the lineup for around 9 games. He has always been part of the squad but has rarely found an opportunity on the pitch due to the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira playing in the same position as him.
