When the season started, many would have probably expected Harry Kane to dominate the Bundesliga scoring chart, which he probably would have done if it wasn't for this African sensation!
The England international is currently the German top flight's leading goalscorer after 10 games with 15 goals, but hot on his heels in second place is VfB Stuttgart talisman Serhou Guirassy.
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The Guinea star has bagged 14 goals in just eight matches, and exhibited the touch of a striker who is on top of his game!
From finishing the opportunities put before him in a clinical manner to making perfectly-timed runs, finishing with both feet, and getting himself on to balls that are put into the box, the 27-year-old is displaying all the traits of a natural goalscorer.
Of his 14 goals, 13 of them came across the first seven matchdays of the 2023/24 campaign, which, according to Opta Sports, is a Bundesliga record! In addition to that, no Stuttgart player has ever even scored 13 times in the first half of a season.
However, his journey to where he is today has not been a normal one compared to other strikers his age. The discussions around him and his form at the moment are whether he is a late bloomer or a one-season wonder.
This is because he has not always been as prolific in front of goal as he has been this season, and was not renowned for his ability to score. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
He plied his trade at 1.FC Koln from 2016 to 2019, marking his first stint in Germany. It was one he would probably like to forget, though, after scoring just nine goals in 45 appearances. He reportedly even received the unwanted nickname of "Chancentod" – a German term loosely translated as "killer of chances". The club was also relegated from the German first division at the end of the 2017/18 campaign, with Guirassy managing only four goals in 15 matches.
In 2020, however, things improved slightly when he made the move to Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais. He managed 13 goals in his first season in France, but his spell at the club continued to be nothing extraordinary, netting just 12 times in 48 appearances by the end of the 2021/22 campaign
It is at this point that his fortunes seemed to change. In 2022, he made a return to the Bundesliga, albeit on loan initially, and scored 11 goals in 22 league matches for Stuttgart.
This season, though, after making the move permanent in July, he will be hoping that the nickname "Chancentod" is something that he will never hear again. Now, his focus is not only on improving his goalscoring tally, but also on becoming a complete striker who can take his team to new heights.
"I would say I'm similar to Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski, and Harry Kane," he told Bundesliga.com.
"I watch Kane a lot, and I like his style. He's good at everything; he can bring his teammates into play, he can score goals.
"Lewandowski is almost the same. He's great, he can score goals, he can dribble, he can pass.
"Benzema is the same, he can do everything. These are the type of players I like; I relate to them because of my style."
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With the help of his goals, Guirassy's Stuttgart are currently third on the table, five points behind second-placed Bayern Munich. The Guinean will be hoping he can contribute more to his side and have his name in the same conversations as Lewandowski, Kane, and Benzema one day.
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