Borussia Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy out to show Lille what they're missing
Serhou Guirassy has been scoring for fun of late, but there was a time when the late-blooming Borussia Dortmund striker was deemed surplus to requirements by upcoming UEFA Champions League opponents Lille.
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While Dortmund have been inconsistent throughout 2024/25, Guirassy has done exactly what he was signed to do. After 28 goals for VfB Stuttgart in last season's Bundesliga, the Guinea international has 23 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions for the Black-Yellows so far, including a competition-leading 10 in the Champions League.
He will look to add to that tally when Lille visit the Signal Iduna Park in last-16 action on 4 March, and the 29-year-old will no doubt be eager to show the French outfit exactly what they are missing. After all, things could have been very different for both Guirassy and the Ligue 1 outfit, had they kept hold of him a decade ago.
Having impressed at Stade Lavallois, where he came through the youth ranks before making his professional debut, Guirassy made the switch to the the four-time French champions in 2015. However, despite starting the first game of the 2015/16 campaign against Paris Saint-Germain, he made only nine appearances, scoring once, before being loaned out to second-tier side Auxerre in the January transfer window.
Eight strikes in 16 matches for Auxerre were not enough to convince Lille that he had what it takes to shine amongst the French elite, and it was in Germany with Cologne that Guirassy embarked on the next step of his career. All in all, he featured in 45 matches for the Billy Goats across two seasons, finding the back of the net on nine occasions.
Speaking of his move to Lille in 2024, Guirassy explained, “in hindsight, I think I was a little too young to sign for Lille, I jumped in at the deep end. It was a great experience because that's how you learn the real professional world, where there are no gifts. It shapes you for the future.”
And so it proved, albeit not quite as quickly as Guirassy would have wanted or expected. His time at Cologne, which the rangy forward said was the “most logical choice” in terms of destination at the time, was marred by injury, leading to him returning to France with Amiens and Rennes.
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It was at the latter, especially in the Champions League by scoring against Chelsea, that he first began to show he could perform on the biggest stage. However, a return to the Bundesliga was necessary for him to reach his full potential. Without his 13 goals in 24 matches during the 2022/23 season, Stuttgart may well have been relegated to Bundesliga 2, and their success over the past 20 months nothing but a pipe dream.
Ultimately, the Swabians retained their top-tier status and then went on to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 14 years by finishing as 2023/24 Bundesliga runners-up. Although several fantastic performances aided Sebastian Hoeneß’s men, Guirassy's were the most eye-catching as he finished second to the 36-goal Harry Kane in the race for the Bundesliga’s Torjägerkanone.
Watch: Serhou Guirassy was electric for Stuttgart in 2023/24
Dortmund duly swooped for Stuttgart's star man, looking to kick on after reaching the 2023/24 Champions final. Although they've fallen short of expectations domestically for large parts of the current campaign and face a fight to salvage a place in the top six, Goal-rassy's performances suggest there could yet be light at the end of the tunnel.
The Dortmund No.9 enters the last-16 first leg with Lille having not long scored four of six BVB goals in a huge win over Union Berlin. What's more, his 11 strikes in all competitions since the turn of the year are currently a figure trumped in Europe's top five leagues only by ex-Dortmund attacker Ousmane Dembélé and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé.
There is arguably no better time for Guirassy to line up against former employers Lille, who may live to regret moving him on after just six months all those years ago.
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