Bundesliga
Having scored with the kind of pace that only Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski could ever match, Serhou Guirassy took his trade in netting by the bucketload to Dortmund ahead of the 2024/25 season. bundesliga.com takes a closer look at the phenomenal forward's explosive leap to prominence...
*Stats correct as of 18 July 2024
Serhou Guirassy
Age: 28 (born 12 March 1996)
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Position: Striker
Country: Guinea (18 caps, 3 goals)
Key stats
Born in the southern French city of Arles to Guinean parents, Guirassy enjoyed an eye-catching start to his young career by posting some prolific goalscoring numbers with USM Montargis and J3 Amilly. Despite an unsuccessful trial at Auxerre, Laval took the rapidly developing forward under their wing and they would eventually make Guirassy the club's youngest-ever pro at 17.
Showing a sharp eye for goal and boasting an unselfish side that saw him laying on several assists, the 6'2" striker began receiving youth caps for France soon after joining his new side. His progress to the Laval's seniors led to him netting seven goals in 38 games across two seasons and earned a move to the French top flight with Lille.
Watch: Guirassy's roots
However it was while scoring eight goals in 16 second-division games on loan at Auxerre in the second half of the 2015/16 campaign that would first bring Guirassy to the Bundesliga with Cologne.
Despite a tricky start to life on the banks of the Rhine, Guirassy netted his first German top-flight goal for Cologne against Bayer Leverkusen under the team's then coach Peter Stöger on October 28, 2017. Despite Guirassy being the Billy Goats' top scorer in all competitions that season, however, his efforts could not prevent Cologne from relegation.
A return to France with Amiens and then Rennes saw Guirassy raise his level further and a highlight during his time back in France was scoring Rennes' first-ever goal in the UEFA Champions League. Stuttgart subsequently swooped and snapped up the Guinea international on loan for the 2022/23 season.
Netting 11 Bundesliga goals and adding a further strike in the two-legged relegation/promotion play-off victory against Hamburg saw Guirassy seal a permanent move to the MHP Arena.
Guirassy began the 2023/24 campaign by scoring eight goals with eight shots on target in his first four top-flight games for Die Roten, a feat never before achieved by any player at the club. He added another two in the 3-1 win over Darmstadt on Matchday 5 and bagged a second hat-trick of the season in a win over Wolfsburg on Matchday 7. The treble saw him soar further in front in the top goalscorers' race as he surpassed Lewandowski to record the highest-ever Bundesliga goals haul at such an early stage of a season. Injuries interrupted his progress, but he ended the first half of the season with an extraordinarily impressive 17 goals in 14 games.
That became 28 in 28 by the end of the 2023/24 campaign - a record haul for a Stuttgart player in a single season and just eight fewer than brilliant Bayern Munich marksman Kane. Borussia Dortmund came calling over the summer, and with a new team of top attacking talent around him, expectations were high that Guirassy would continue to bang in goal after goal in 2024/25.
Watch: Guirassy "proud" to break Mario Gomez's Stuttgart goal record
Plays a bit like: Mario Gomez
Guirassy is a rangy opportunist, who despite his impressive physicality has developed into a bona fide penalty box predator, converting his goals with unerring efficiency. Stylistically he is not too dissimilar from another former Stuttgart great in Mario Gomez. 'Super Mario' fired the Swabians to the Bundesliga title in 2007, and smashing them to their best finish since, second in 2023/24, was a spectacular way for Guirassy to bow out before moving to Dortmund.
Did you know?
Despite scoring 11 goals across various youth categories for France, Guirassy chose to represent Guinea in March 2022. By the start of the 2024/25 season, he had won 18 caps for the country of his parents' birth and has scored senior international goals against Brazil, Egypt and Gabon.
What they're saying
“It would be wrong to reduce Serhou to his ability as a finisher. Of course, as a striker, he’ll be judged by his goals, but his role in closing down opponents shows that he sees himself as a real team player.” - Borussia Dortmund managing director for sport, Lars Ricken
"Serhou is an all-round striker who poses a serious goal threat, and he will be a huge asset for us and our squad with his qualities." - Borussia Dortmund sporting director, Sebastian Kehl