Serhou Guirassy returns to VfB Stuttgart with Borussia Dortmund on Sunday having just scored his first goal for his new club; with insight from talking to Stuttgart legend Cacau, Adam Bate profiles the player now tasked with leading the line for BVB…
Thursday 19 September 2024 11:06, UK
Serhou Guirassy's 95th-minute penalty away to Club Brugge had no impact on the result. Borussia Dortmund had already secured victory. But it was the culmination of a journey for the striker. His first goal for the club. His first goal in the Champions League.
Guirassy, now 28, was not tipped for greatness at a young age like so many of his new team-mates. His first taste of the Bundesliga brought relegation with FC Koln and he hardly lit up the second tier with them either. He left to return to France aged 23.
In another world, that might have been that for him at the elite level. He went down again with Amiens before moving to Rennes and on to Stuttgart, where their unexpected revival under Sebastian Hoeness set Guirassy's career on another trajectory entirely.
On Sunday, he returns to Stuttgart with Dortmund.
Guirassy needs no introduction to the supporters in Swabia. It was while at Stuttgart last season that the Guinea international emerged as one of the most potent strikers in Europe. This time last year he had already scored eight times in just four games.
Those goals sparked Stuttgart, the catalyst that took them to second in the Bundesliga - the other surprise of the season in Germany. Had injury not disrupted him, Guirassy may well have beaten Harry Kane to the European Golden Shoe. He was that good.
But the knee injury picked up on international duty in the summer means only now is he getting back up to speed. Dortmund need him. The sale of Niclas Fullkrug was applauded given the fee received from West Ham, but the replacement needs to fire fast.
When Dortmund blanked at Werder Bremen, the return from injury of new signing Guirassy took on greater importance. He showed what had been missing on debut in their 4-2 win over Heidenheim. Dortmund already look better with him playing.
That point was emphasised when it needed two goals from substitute Jamie Bynoe-Gittens to beat Eintracht Frankfurt, even before that goalless draw in Bremen. Nuri Sahin, the new boss at BVB, is trying to shift the style and needs his point-man in attack.
The exciting Maximilian Beier had been unable to be that in the first two games but Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Malan improved with Guirassy on the pitch, the link-up play with Julian Brandt also encouraging. Nobody at Stuttgart will be too surprised.
Guirassy in form is a difference maker, as Stuttgart legend Cacau explains. The Brazilian fired Stuttgart to the title in 2007, their top scorer with 18 goals in all competitions, but even he did not come close to Guirassy's total of 30 goals in 30 games last season.
Speaking to Cacau about Guirassy's impact at the club, he tells Sky Sports: "At Stuttgart, for me, he was the complete striker. He scored headers, he scored in the box, he scored outside the box, he scored through dribbling and he also gave some assists."
That stood out for Cacau. "It is not normal for a striker like him to make assists because everyone wants you to score goals," he explains. "If he was in a good position, he tried to score. If not, he gave the pass. That impressed me. At Stuttgart, he was complete."
Guirassy is undoubtedly a striker but it does not require the vision of a playmaker to bring others into the game. That was evident enough for 71 minutes against Heidenheim when, even while still rusty, his movement opened space for Dortmund's wide forwards.
This late bloomer - a bargain signing at only £15m - can bring more than just goals, he can be the facilitator for Sahin's side. And he knows this is his big chance. Many at Dortmund are already impressed with his appetite to come back quickly, to be a leader.
"Guirassy was technically amazing, he scored the goals but he also gave the team calmness on the pitch," adds Cacau. "As a player and a person, he is amazing. He was also very important for the team in the locker room because he had this mentality."
Given how fulsome he is in his praise, one might expect his predecessor to have high expectations of him this season. Perhaps surprisingly, he is not so certain that Guirassy will be able to repeat his heroics in yellow. It is a new environment, new expectations.
"We will see at Dortmund. I do not know if he will be so successful like at Stuttgart because at Stuttgart the expectation was not so high. Now, at Dortmund, everyone expects for him to make the same level as at Stuttgart. I am not sure."
His is an appealing tale but one for which the next chapter is not yet written. Cacau is an admirer and even he is uncertain what comes next. It has been an encouraging start, two big wins and one landmark goal from the spot, but Dortmund will want a lot more.
That is the challenge for Guirassy, a player who had all the momentum a year ago but now needs to find it having been denied a proper pre-season and with more pressure on him to deliver. It will be a test of technique, but also the character that Cacau highlights.
That test continues, fittingly, at Stuttgart on Sunday.
Watch Borussia Dortmund vs VfB Stuttgart on Sky Sports Football this Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm
