Former Celtic defender Andreas Hinkel on Thursday signed for German league side Freiburg until the end of the season as the right-back looks to restart his career after a serious knee injury.
Having made the last of his 21 appearances for Germany in June 2009, Hinkel tore his cruciate ligament while training for Scottish giants Celtic in August 2010 and did not play at all last season.
The 29-year-old made a total 103 appearances over three years for Celtic and won the Scottish Premier League title in 2007/08, but had been without a club since the end of last season.
He had trained with former club Stuttgart, but admitted he was relieved to have finally signed for Freiburg until June next year, with the option of an extra year.
"I am very happy that I can go to Freiburg and the waiting has come to an end," said Hinkel.
"I want to get fully involved with the team from day one."
Hinkel brings plenty of German league experience having already made 156 appearances in the Bundesliga for VfB Stuttgart, who he left for Sevilla in 2006 before he joined Celtic in 2008.
"It's nice that I am able to play in the Bundesliga again at such a well-run club as Freiburg," said Hinkel.
Freiburg, who are down in 15th place in the Bundesliga, face bottom side Hamburg in their next German league game on October 16.
Source: AFP
