Serhou Guirassy, born in Arles, France to Guinean parents, scored 13 goals for Borussia Dortmund in the 2024-25 Champions League, a club record. He scored twice, once from the penalty spot, in Dortmund’s 3-2 win over Villarreal on matchday 1 of this season.
Serhou Yadaly Guirassy was born on 12 March 1996 in Arles, France, to Guinean parents. He started his career at Montargis, Amilly and Laval, and in July 2015 signed a four-year contract with Lille for a reported fee of around €1 million. In July 2016 he joined 1. FC Köln on a five-year deal, and soon underwent meniscus surgery before muscular problems kept him out for much of the first half of the season.
He made his Bundesliga debut on 1 April 2017 in a 2-1 loss to Hamburg, and scored his first league goal on 28 October 2017 in a 2-1 loss at Bayer Leverkusen. He scored five days later in a 5-2 Europa League win over BATE Borisov and scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Arsenal in the same competition. Köln finished last in the league and were relegated, though he was their top scorer in all competitions.
In January 2019 he moved on loan to Amiens, who then bought him. On 15 February 2020 he scored a brace in a 4-4 draw with Paris Saint-Germain, the second goal an equaliser in stoppage time. In August 2020 he joined Rennes, scored his first two goals in a 4-2 win over Nîmes, and on 20 October 2020 scored Rennes’ first-ever Champions League goal in a 1-1 draw with Krasnodar. He scored his first career hat-trick on 20 March 2022 in a 6-1 win over Metz.
On 1 September 2022 he joined VfB Stuttgart on loan, a move made permanent in May 2023. In 2023-24 he scored 28 goals in 28 matches, behind only Harry Kane. He scored ten goals in the first five matches and set a Bundesliga record of 13 goals in the first seven games, passing Robert Lewandowski’s record, and he scored the opening goal 12 times that season, matching a record set by Gerd Müller in 1969-70. On 13 April 2024 he broke Mario Gómez’s record for goals in a single campaign by a Stuttgart player.
On 18 July 2024 he signed for Borussia Dortmund for a reported €18 million. He scored ten Champions League goals by 11 February 2025, and on 22 February scored four goals in a 6-0 win over Union Berlin. On 15 April he scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Barcelona in the quarter-finals and became Africa’s and Dortmund’s all-time top scorer in a single Champions League campaign, with 13 goals. He finished as the competition’s top scorer, level with Raphinha, and became the second African player to do so after George Weah in 1994-95. In his first two Dortmund seasons he scored 38 league goals in 63 matches.
After initially representing France at youth levels, he switched to Guinea, making his debut in 2022 and playing at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. This season he scored twice in Dortmund’s 3-2 comeback win over Villarreal on matchday 1, both in the second half, one from open play and one from a penalty. Dortmund travel to Bodø/Glimt on Wednesday, who lost 5-0 to Bayern on matchday 1, and Guirassy will fancy his chances of another goal.
Image: Serhou Guirassy playing for Guinea in 2023 (file photo). Photo: Fédération Guinéenne Football / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
