his maturity and dedication to the club propel him on rare occasions to be the team captain. However, the team played below expectations, and the club decided to make several changes to the squad; after the arrival of Francesco Toldo from Fiorentina, Frey was placed on the transfer list. Parma Following Toldo's transfer to Inter, Frey was forced to find a new club. He was transferred to Parma in the summer of 2001, for 8 billion lire cash plus Sérgio Conceição (Conceição was tagged for 32 billion lire, Inter's official site claimed the cash was 10 billion lire), or 40 billion lire with whom he won the 2001–02 Coppa Italia. Frey was the replacement for Gianluigi Buffon who was sold to Juventus for a transfer fee of 100 billion lire in the same window. The transfer fee was the world-record goalkeeper's transfer fee at that time. It was a difficult task for Frey to replace Buffon. His experience in Parma was positive and provided ample opportunity for Frey to demonstrate his talent and justify the trust placed in him by the club. He became a key element of the squad and regularly played in the UEFA Cup. Frey won the 2001–02 edition of the Coppa Italia with Parma, leading the club to win the title for the third time since 1992; however, Frey never played in the tournament with Cláudio Taffarel preferred for the final. In the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana, however, Frey started in goal against Juventus, but could not help his team to avoid losing 2–1 to the league champions. In June 2005, Parma avoided relegation to Serie B against Bologna, thanks to Frey and his outstanding performance. Despite his attachment to the club, an economic concern of the latter to balance its budget meant Frey had to be sold. Frey joined Fiorentina for the 2005–06 season, after four seasons with Parma, on the a loan with an option to be. Fiorentina Frey joined Fiorentina on loan for the 2005–06 campaign, and signed a permanent deal with the club for €6 million (€5.6M went to Parma) at the end of the year following a glittering season where he formed the backbone of the team along with Cristian Brocchi, Stefano Fiore, and Luca Toni. After a positive first half of the season for him and his team, on 10 January 2006, during a match in the Coppa Italia against Juventus,