This summer, there was a seismic transfer in the Bundesliga.
A man who'd go on to break records and leave defences fearful of his mere presence by scoring goals like no on else the division rocked up in south Germany. No, it's not new Bayern Munich star Harry Kane, but rather Stuttgart sensation Serhou Guirassy.
Having scored an impressive 14 goals in 28 games last season while on loan from French side Rennes, Stuttgart were happy to fork out €9million (£7.7m) to secure his services on a permanent basis in June. Guirassy, 27, had previously been linked with Everton, West Ham and even high-flying Newcastle.
But fortunately for Sebastian Hoeness' side, who currently sit second in the Bundesliga after escaping relegation via the play-offs last term, the Guinea international goalscorer is theirs to enjoy. But who is he?
Finding his home
Born to Guinean parents in the city of Arles on the south coast of France, Guirassy rose through the ranks of second-tier side Laval and became their youngest-ever professional. The striking starlet was snapped up by Lille aged 19 but after struggling for first-team football in his first six months, a productive half-season loan spell with Auxerre - where as a youngster he'd been unsuccessful in a trial - gave him the chance to showcase his talents.
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That convinced German side Koln to hand him a five-year contract, paying Lille just over £3m. A combination of injury troubles and the team's difficult plight saw the France youth international only return nine goals from 45 appearances, one of them being against Arsenal in the Europa League, and he suffered relegation at the Rhein Energie Stadion in 2019.
Another loan spell which resulted in a permanent move soon followed, this time to Ligue 1 outfit Amiens. That's where Guirassy found form, scoring 10 goals in 25 games before the pandemic hit and impressing Rennes enough to fork out nearly £13m for his signature.
Serhou Guirassy's first spell in Germany was with Koln (TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)Attention from abroad gathered over the next two seasons, with Premier League duo Everton and West Ham reportedly interested in signing him from Rennes, where he registered 25 goals in 81 appearances. But after maintaining their top-flight status in Germany and losing leading striker Sasa Kalajdzic to Wolves, Stuttgart swooped and secured a loan deal for Guirassy at the beginning of last term.
Despite being coached by four different managers during the course of a turbulent campaign, the on-loan forward was Stuttgart's talisman and scored in their 6-1 aggregate victory over Hamburg to ensure survival in the relegation play-offs - also aided by new Liverpool signing Wataru Endo in midfield. Hoeness, who's the nephew of Bayern Munich legend Uli, had been appointed for the final stretch of the term and got the best out of Guirassy, although not as much as he's been getting this time around.
Sebastian Hoeness has taken Stuttgart from strugglers to second place (Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)Breaking Lewandowski's record
For foreign strikers in the Bundesliga, the benchmark might forever be Robert Lewandowski. Although his rise to the top was much more streamlined than Guirassy's, there's no reason why imports can't strive to do as well as the prolific Pole - or even better in some cases.
With a hat-trick at home to Wolfsburg last Saturday, Stuttgart's No.9 became the fastest player in Bundesliga history to reach 13 goals, taking seven games. That wasn't even Guirassy's first hat-trick of the term, also bagging a treble in September's 3-1 victory away to Mainz.
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Serhou Guirassy has already bagged two hat-tricks this season (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)Previously, Lewandowski had managed 11 strikes in his opening seven games. That was in the 2020-21 season, where he ended up amassing 41 goals and breaking the late Gerd Muller's all-time record in a single Bundesliga campaign.
Guirassy's heroics have put Hoeness' men just a point behind the team in first place. It isn't reigning champions Bayern, though, instead Bayer Leverkusen are leading the way as the second international break commences, managed by former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso, who's still only 41.
"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," Guirassy humbly affirmed after his treble in the 3-1 win against Wolfsburg which temporarily sent Stuttgart top of the table. "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."
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Step aside, Harry
Harry Kane (eight) has scored five fewer goals in the Bundesliga than Serhou Guirassy (Boris Streubel/Getty Images)While Harry Kane has still scored a superb eight league goals for new club Bayern since his £82m move from Tottenham in August, Guirassy has comfortably outshone him. Kane may have laid on three more assists than his peer's tally of one, but the fact is England's captain and all-time top goalscorer isn't the most lethal finisher in Germany right now.
Things are likely to level out, however, with Guirassy vastly outperforming his expected goals tally of 7.98, while the difference between Kane's xG and his actual return is far slimmer. Still, there's nothing to stop the 27-year-old from enjoying his hot streak, with his pace and 6ft 2in stature causing a host of problems for Bundesliga defences.
Serhou Guirassy credits his Stuttgart team-mates for guiding him to stardom (Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)Boss Hoeness, who's also garnering praise at the tender managerial age of 41, recently remarked: "We're on a roll right now and up front we've got a striker in Serhou who's putting everything away."
With two goals in as many games at international level this season, against Brazil and Egypt, Guirassy is also one to watch when his nation face rivals Guinea-Bissau and Gabon. For defenders back in Germany, though, they'll want him away for as long as possible.
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