He began the 2023-24 season with goals in almost every match. By the end, Serhou Guirassy had scored 28 Bundesliga goals for VfB Stuttgart, helping a club that had narrowly avoided relegation the year before finish second. Only Harry Kane scored more in Germany that season. For a striker who had moved between clubs for years, it was a remarkable rise.
A wandering career and Stuttgart
Guirassy was born in 1996 in Arles, France, to a family of Guinean origin. He developed in French football and began his professional career at Laval. He played for Lille, Cologne, Auxerre, Amiens and Rennes, scoring goals but not always holding a regular place. Injuries also slowed him at times. At Rennes from 2019, he became a reliable scorer in Ligue 1 and played in European competition.
He joined Stuttgart in 2022, first on loan and then permanently. In 2022-23 his goals helped the club survive a relegation playoff.
The record season, Dortmund and Guinea
In 2023-24, Guirassy scored at an extraordinary rate, setting records for goals in the opening part of a Bundesliga season. Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League for the first time in years. In 2024, Borussia Dortmund signed him. He continued scoring, including in the Champions League. Guirassy chose to represent Guinea at international level. He played at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire, where Guinea reached the quarter-finals.
He is a complete centre-forward: strong, good in the air, composed in front of goal and able to link play. Like many players born in Europe to African families, Guirassy’s choice of Guinea strengthened an African national team with experience from top European leagues.
A late bloomer and goals in Europe
His best season came in his late twenties, after years of moving between clubs. It showed that strikers can peak later than expected. At Dortmund, Guirassy also scored regularly in the Champions League, showing that his Stuttgart season was no fluke. His finishing with both feet and his heading made him one of the most complete strikers in Germany.
He also became a reliable penalty taker for his clubs. Many clubs had Serhou Guirassy and let him go. Stuttgart gave him a full season as the main striker, and he answered with one of the best scoring runs in recent Bundesliga history.
