Fabian Schär

Fabian Lukas Schär (born 20 December 1991), known as Fabian Schär, is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Switzerland national team.

He is known for his powerful free-kicks, long shots and long passes.

He eventually made his league debut on 29 November 2009 against FC Stade Nyonnais, coming on as a late substitute.

He scored his first Swiss Challenge League goal in an away win against Yverdon-Sport on 30 October 2010.

Schär made his international debut for the Swiss U-20 team in a game against Poland U-20 on 17 November 2011.

Beginning his career at his hometown club of Wil, Schär transferred to Basel in 2012, winning the Swiss Super League in all three of his seasons there before his move to Hoffenheim.

After playing at the 2012 Olympics, Schär made his senior debut for Switzerland in 2013.

On 4 July 2012, Schär transferred to Basel on a three-year contract with the option of a fourth.

He made his Swiss Super League debut on 29 September in a 1–1 away draw against Lausanne-Sport.

He scored his first goal for his new club on 7 October in the St. Jakob-Park during the 3–2 home win against Servette, heading an equaliser following a corner from Fabian Frei.

At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Schär won the Championship title and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.

In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Basel advanced as far as the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but they were knocked out losing both matches and being beaten 2–5 on aggregate.

He played his first game for the Swiss U-21 on 29 February 2012 in the 2–1 defeat against the Austrian U-21.

He scored his first goal for the Swiss U-21 during his fourth appearance for them on 10 September 2012 in a match against Estonia U-21 This was the final game in the qualification to the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Switzerland finished in second position and entered the play-offs.

In the first leg of the qualification play-offs on 12 October 2012 against the German U-21 team Schär was shown the red card after he fouled Sebastian Polter as last man.

At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Schär won his second league championship with Basel.

They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time.

During the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached the group stage and finished the group in third position.

Thus they qualified for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals.

He represented the nation at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022, as well as the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020.

Born in Wil, in the Canton of St. Gallen, Schär began his playing career at hometown club Wil and rose through the youth ranks, soon playing regularly for Wil's reserve team.

The 2014–15 season was a very successful one for Basel and Schär.

Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row that season.

In the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final, but for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 to Sion in the final.

Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage and reached the knockout stages, with a 1–1 away draw against Liverpool enough to take them through.

Basel later lost to Porto in the Round of 16.

On 4 June 2015, Schär signed for Hoffenheim.

On 16 April 2016, he scored his only goal at the club from a header in a 2–1 victory over Hertha BSC.

On 21 July 2017, Schär signed a four-year deal with Deportivo de La Coruña.

He made his La Liga debut on 20 August, starting in a 3–0 home loss against Real Madrid.

He scored two goals in the 2017–18 season, which ended in relegation for the Galician team.

On 26 July 2018, following Deportivo de La Coruña's relegation from La Liga, Schär signed a three-year deal with Newcastle United after the club had activated his £3 million buy out clause in his contract.

He made his debut for the club on 26 August 2018 in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea.

Schär scored his first goals for Newcastle against Cardiff City on 19 January 2019, netting twice in a 3–0 victory at St James' Park.

He scored his third Newcastle goal against Burnley in a 2–0 win, opening the scoring with a 30-yard strike that would win Premier League and Match of the Day's February Goal of the Month competition.

His fourth goal came in the final game of the season, and eventual 4–0 win over Fulham.

On 4 October 2023, Schär scored his first Champions League goal for Newcastle United against Paris Saint-Germain in a 4–1 home victory during the 2023–24 season group stage.

On 8 January 2024, Schär extended his contract with Newcastle until the summer of 2025.

Schär was a Switzerland youth international having played at under-20 and under-21 level.