Serhou Guirassy: Who is the Stuttgart striker outscoring Harry Kane at the top of the Bundesliga goal charts?
bundesliga.com takes a closer look at Stuttgart's striking sensation who has helped to light up the division with his goalscoring feats so far in 2023/24.
Serhou Guirassy
Age: 27
Club: VfB Stuttgart
Position: Striker
Country: Guinea (7 caps, 2 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, in particular, at 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 on his scoring heroics after hitting 10 in five games
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 couldn't prevent Cologne from suffering 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 Champions League. Stuttgart subsequently swooped and snapped up the Guinea international on loan for the 2022/23 season.
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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, taking his tally to 10 in five games and keep him top of the scoring chart.
Plays a bit like: Emile Heskey
An England international who won domestic and European honours at Premier League teams Leicester City and Liverpool, Heskey's strong presence, pace and sometimes powerful finishing mirrors that of Stuttgart's in-form forward. In a similar style to Heskey, Guirassy is a powerful presence in the air, boasts good close control and is capable of playing out wide to add to his teams' options.
Watch: All 10 Guirassy goals after Matchday 5
Did you know?
To put Guirassy's scoring feat into context, nobody in Bundesliga history has ever had more than 10 goals after the first five games of a season, while only one - a certain Robert Lewandowski - has ever equalled it (for Bayern Munich in 2020/21).
Despite scoring 11 goals across various youth categories for France, Guirassy chose to represent Guinea in March 2022. He has since won seven caps for the country of his parents' birth and has scored senior international goals against Brazil and Egypt.
What they're saying
“It’s very good but I can only repeat, we do it as a team and when I score it’s credit to the whole team. I scored today but maybe next week it’ll be someone else. Obviously I’m very happy about my hat-trick but I’m even happier with the win." - Guirassy speaks after netting the first hat-trick of his Bundesliga career in VfB's win against Mainz on Matchday 4 this season.
"We’re on a roll right now and up front we’ve got a striker in Serhou who’s putting everything away." - Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß praises his star striker after he extended his run of goals to seven against Mainz.
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