Royal Antwerp’s Michael Frey says his move to Queens Park Rangers was a reward for getting out of a difficult situation.
The forward first joined the Belgian club in 2021 and left them for QPR in January 2024. In his first spell, he scored 33 goals and contributed four assists from 69 matches.
He didn’t feature for Royal Antwerp during the 2023/24 season because of an ankle injury and a fallout with their then manager, Mark van Bommel.
However, that didn’t stop him from securing a move to the Championship side. At the time, the Belgian media explained it was a ‘very expensive deal’, without revealing the exact figure.
How did Frey fair at QPR
The Swiss managed only one goal from nine matches in the second half of the 2023/24 season for QPR.
In his first full season with the London club, the 32-year-old finished with nine goals and an assist from 31 matches. Injuries had restricted his playing time. Last season, he failed to score or assist from 13 matches for Julien Stéphan’s side.
Therefore, QPR let him join Grasshopper at the start of this year. The return to his country didn’t last long as he left them to start his second spell with Royal Antwerp. Michael Frey has four goals from eight matches for the Belgian club so far this season.
Michael Frey
Senior club career stats
| Club | Apps | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young Boys 2012–2014; 2016–2017 |
130 | 34 | 18 |
| Lille 2014–2016 |
21 | 3 | 0 |
| Luzern 2016 — loan |
17 | 4 | 4 |
| FC Zürich 2017–2018 |
39 | 16 | 4 |
| Fenerbahçe 2018–2021 |
23 | 5 | 1 |
| Nürnberg 2019–2020 — loan |
32 | 5 | 3 |
| Waasland-Beveren 2020–2021 — loan |
31 | 17 | 4 |
| Royal Antwerp 2021–2024; 2026–present |
77 | 37 | 4 |
| Schalke 04 2023 — loan |
15 | 0 | 3 |
| Queens Park Rangers 2024–2026 |
53 | 10 | 1 |
| Grasshoppers 2026 |
16 | 2 | 0 |
| Recorded total | 454 | 133 | 42 |
Young Boys and Antwerp figures combine both spells at each club.
Source: Opta Analyst. Updated: 15 October 2026.
Frey on what helped him join QPR
The frontman has been speaking to Het Nieuwsblad about a few topics, including his time at Royal Antwerp and his move to Loftus Road.
Michael Frey spoke about how his first spell with the Jupiler Pro League side ended up on a low. The newspaper immediately asksed how low he sank mentally. When responding to that, he discussed his transfer to QPR.
“I was mentally dead one day, and then I turned the page. I worked like a horse, read a lot of books, and tried to help the young guys in training improve. Antwerp haven’t forgotten how I conducted myself during that difficult period,” he said.
“It is an incredibly important life lesson that you, as a footballer, are best off learning as soon as possible. Smashing your windows has never achieved anything. Ultimately, that attitude paid off, because suddenly I could go to Queens Park Rangers, a club with a great tradition. I scored in my second match and felt happy again.”
On QPR’s stadium, Frey explained: “Wonderful, so compact, you could hear everything the fans were saying. The away trips to Sunderland, Portsmouth and the like will also always stay with me. A unique atmosphere like you rarely experience.
“Just throwing long balls around and running after them. However, and this must be a tradition over there in England: we had fire alarms six times, in the dead of night, while staying at a hotel for an away trip. After that, you need at least 45 minutes to fall back asleep. It happened just a little too often to be called a coincidence.”
