Continuous rise & a little unpaid advertising

One of the first people to congratulate him on Friday afternoon was a name familiar to fans of the 05ers. Christian Mathenia, a Mainz native and FSV youth product, reacted to the official announcement of Fabio Gruber’s signing with a heart emoji. The pair had spent 18 months together at 1. FC Nürnberg until this May and, particularly in recent months, often found themselves discussing Mainz 05 and the city itself. “It felt like he was telling me every day how great the city and the club are,” Gruber told 05ER.tv after arriving at Bruchweg. A little unpaid advertising, perhaps, though it was only one of many factors that ultimately convinced the 23-year-old to accept the offer from FSV. Despite Nürnberg having a largely average campaign performance-wise and a particularly disappointing opening third of the season, Gruber finally made his breakthrough in 2025/26. From autumn onwards, he captained FCN, featuring in 32 of their 34 league matches, and he also earned his first five senior caps for Peru, his mother’s homeland. It came as little surprise, then, that Mainz were not the only Bundesliga club interested in securing his services. In the end, however, the 05ers won the race for the talented young centre-back. From this summer onwards, supporters can look forward to seeing an in-demand, German-born defender with significant room for further development run out for Mainz 05.

From the Regionalliga to the Bundesliga in three years

Throughout his still-young career, Gruber has consistently taken each step in his stride. In the summer of 2023, he left his boyhood club FC Augsburg, for whom he had made 63 appearances and scored six goals in the Regionalliga Bayern, to join SC Verl in Germany’s third tier. After a brief settling-in period, the 1.88-metre-tall defender established himself as a key figure in a side renowned for its possession-based, attack-minded football. During his second season at Verl, he was entrusted with the captaincy despite being only 21 years old, donning the armband until his winter move to Nürnberg. One division higher, the pattern repeated itself. After initially finding himself on the bench, Gruber quickly became a regular in Nürnberg’s starting XI during the closing stages of the 2024/25 campaign and was promoted to vice-captain within a matter of months. He assumed the captaincy outright during the 2025/26 winter break following Robin Knoche’s departure to Arminia Bielefeld, having already displaced the experienced defender from the starting line-up. As an undisputed leader, Gruber led by example and played a significant role in Nürnberg climbing to seventh place in the form table for the second half of the season. 

His performances at club level earned him his first taste of international football. With the Peru national team, the talented centre-back, who counts his ball-playing ability, aerial strength and dominance in duels among his greatest assets, featured in a 2-1 victory over Haiti in Miami before facing European champions Spain in Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Mexico, four days ago (3-1 defeat). Having sampled a little World Cup atmosphere before returning to Germany, and still dealing with the lingering effects of jet lag, Gruber headed straight to Bruchweg to put pen to paper on his Mainz contract. It has been quite the journey for the newest 05er, just as the first few years of his professional career have been remarkably successful. One thing is certain: the aim at Mainz is to continue that development. Gruber can hardly wait to experience Bundesliga football for the first time. Having climbed from the fourth tier to the top flight in just three years, he is relishing the prospect of performing on the biggest stage. And his old friend Mathenia will undoubtedly be delighted to see him take those first steps in the Bundesliga - and, above all, at the MEWA ARENA. The goalkeeper himself reached the first-team squad after progressing through Mainz’s academy, though he ultimately made ‘only’ 51 Regionalliga appearances for the club’s U23 side.