Category News

Serhou Guirassy – a man with a modest career until two years ago – finds himself near the top of the Champions League goalscoring charts.

The 28-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker has relegations from the German and French top tiers on his CV – and had never hit a 15-goal season until last season.

His six transfers in a journeyman, often injury-hit, career have cost a combined £45m.

But now the Guinea international is the Champions League’s joint-second top scorer, with 10 goals, going into the last-16 second leg against Lille – a club who previously moved him on after just six months.

Guirassy, then a France Under-19 international, made his first-team breakthrough at Laval and scored six goals in 29 games in the 2014-15 Ligue 2 campaign.

QPR and Leeds were both linked to him before he moved to Lille that summer for a reported 1m euros (now £840,000).

Herve Renard was the manager who brought him to Lille – but was sacked in November and, after only three Ligue 1 starts, Guirassy was sent on loan to second tier Auxerre in January.

Arsenal, still managed by Arsene Wenger then, were reportedly scouting him during that loan spell to Auxerre.

But instead he moved to Cologne – in a somewhat protracted deal.

The German side spotted something in his medical and the clubs had a minor war of words before Cologne eventually negotiated a lower fee – understood to be about 4m euros (now £3.4m).

Injuries would blight his time there and he managed just 21 Bundesliga appearances, and four goals, in his first two seasons before their relegation.

According to Transfermarkt he has missed 75 games through injury or illness in his career, with 41 of them coming during his time at Cologne.

Guirassy netted three Ligue 1 goals in the second half of 2018-19 and Amiens paid about 5m euros (about £4.2m now) to sign him permanently that summer.

West Ham, Aston Villa, Leicester, Bournemouth, Brighton and Tottenham were all reportedly interested in signing him midway through the 2019-20 season – but he ended up staying at Amiens as they were relegated to Ligue 2.

Amiens sports director John Williams says Guirassy turned down a move to Chelsea in the summer of 2020 because he wanted first-team guarantees – so instead he moved to French top-flight Rennes for about 15m euros (now £12.6m).

Everton were the latest British team to be linked to him when he was leaving Rennes in 2022 – and were supposedly close to signing him at one stage.

But instead he went back to the Bundesliga, joining Stuttgart in a loan deal.

He scored 14 goals in all competitions, including one in the promotion-relegation play-off win over Hamburg, as he avoided a third relegation in his career.

Stuttgart made the signing permanent for a fee of about 9m euros (now £7.6m).

The 2023-24 season was the year Guirassy really found his shooting boots.

In all competitions last season he netted 30 goals in 30 games for Stuttgart – in an injury-hit campaign.

He netted 28 Bundesliga goals in as many games – one every 79 minutes – and only missed out on the Golden Boot to Harry Kane’s 36.

Stuttgart finished second in the table behind Bayer Leverkusen.

Guirassy was unfortunate because without Kane, he would have won not only the German top-scorer award but also the European Golden Shoe – awarded to the leading scorer across Europe’s top leagues.

Despite missing several games through injury, he played 2,211 minutes in the league (equivalent to 24.5 full games) – the most in his career.

Manchester United and Newcastle United were among the English teams to be linked to him last summer.

But he instead moved to Borussia Dortmund, who triggered a release clause to sign him for 17.5m euros (£14.7m).

Another injury delayed his debut but he has been prolific since getting into the team – with 24 goals in 34 games.

Ten of those have come in the Champions League, in his debut season in Europe’s top competition, where he has outscored everyone apart from Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane (10) and Barcelona’s Raphina (11).

“I understand that my form might surprise some, but I’m not surprised,” he said recently.

“I have had two crazy seasons, but I’ve not changed anything. I’m not working more, I’m not sleeping more, I’m not doing more video analysis.

“It’s just a question of confidence. And I have understood that at the highest level, talent isn’t enough.

“You have to push through the pain barrier in challenges, in the effort you put in, in making high-intensity runs again and again, more quickly and more frequently than your opponents.

Serhou Guirassy – a man with a modest career until two years ago – finds himself near the top of the Champions League goalscoring charts.

The 28-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker has relegations from the German and French top tiers on his CV – and had never hit a 15-goal season until last season.

His six transfers in a journeyman, often injury-hit, career have cost a combined £45m.

But now the Guinea international is the Champions League’s joint-second top scorer, with 10 goals, going into the last-16 second leg against Lille – a club who previously moved him on after just six months.

Guirassy, then a France Under-19 international, made his first-team breakthrough at Laval and scored six goals in 29 games in the 2014-15 Ligue 2 campaign.

QPR and Leeds were both linked to him before he moved to Lille that summer for a reported 1m euros (now £840, 000).

Herve Renard was the manager who brought him to Lille – but was sacked in November and, after only three Ligue 1 starts, Guirassy was sent on loan to second tier Auxerre in January.

Arsenal, still managed by Arsene Wenger then, were reportedly scouting him during that loan spell to Auxerre.

But instead he moved to Cologne – in a somewhat protracted deal.

The German side spotted something in his medical and the clubs had a minor war of words before Cologne eventually negotiated a lower fee – understood to be about 4m euros (now £3.4m).

Injuries would blight his time there and he managed just 21 Bundesliga appearances, and four goals, in his first two seasons before their relegation.

According to Transfermarkt he has missed 75 games through injury or illness in his career, with 41 of them coming during his time at Cologne.

Guirassy netted three Ligue 1 goals in the second half of 2018-19 and Amiens paid about 5m euros (about £4.2m now) to sign him permanently that summer.

West Ham, Aston Villa, Leicester, Bournemouth, Brighton and Tottenham were all reportedly interested in signing him midway through the 2019-20 season – but he ended up staying at Amiens as they were relegated to Ligue 2.

Amiens sports director John Williams says Guirassy turned down a move to Chelsea in the summer of 2020 because he wanted first-team guarantees – so instead he moved to French top-flight Rennes for about 15m euros (now £12.6m).

Everton were the latest British team to be linked to him when he was leaving Rennes in 2022 – and were supposedly close to signing him at one stage.

But instead he went back to the Bundesliga, joining Stuttgart in a loan deal.

He scored 14 goals in all competitions, including one in the promotion-relegation play-off win over Hamburg, as he avoided a third relegation in his career.

Stuttgart made the signing permanent for a fee of about 9m euros (now £7.6m).

The 2023-24 season was the year Guirassy really found his shooting boots.

In all competitions last season he netted 30 goals in 30 games for Stuttgart – in an injury-hit campaign.

He netted 28 Bundesliga goals in as many games – one every 79 minutes – and only missed out on the Golden Boot to Harry Kane’s 36.

Stuttgart finished second in the table behind Bayer Leverkusen.

Guirassy was unfortunate because without Kane, he would have won not only the German top-scorer award but also the European Golden Shoe – awarded to the leading scorer across Europe’s top leagues.

Despite missing several games through injury, he played 2, 211 minutes in the league (equivalent to 24.5 full games) – the most in his career.

Manchester United and Newcastle United were among the English teams to be linked to him last summer.

But he instead moved to Borussia Dortmund, who triggered a release clause to sign him for 17.5m euros (£14.7m).

Another injury delayed his debut but he has been prolific since getting into the team – with 24 goals in 34 games.

Ten of those have come in the Champions League, in his debut season in Europe’s top competition, where he has outscored everyone apart from Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane (10) and Barcelona’s Raphina (11).

“I understand that my form might surprise some, but I’m not surprised”, he said recently.

“I have had two crazy seasons, but I’ve not changed anything. I’m not working more, I’m not sleeping more, I’m not doing more video analysis.

” It’s just a question of confidence. And I have understood that at the highest level, talent isn’t enough.

“You have to push through the pain barrier in challenges, in the effort you put in, in making high-intensity runs again and again, more quickly and more frequently than your opponents.

The Players Championship 2025

Venue: TPC Sawgrass Date: 13-16 Mar

While negotiations aimed at reunifying men’s golf grind to a halt, the PGA Tour is taking steps to speed up play.

Commissioner Jay Monahan’s state of the union news conference, before this week’s Players Championship here at Sawgrass, made clear that eradicating slow play has become more of a priority than ever before for a circuit that has always indulged slowcoaches.

But this, the tour’s marquee tournament, will again be played in the shadow of the ongoing split brought about by the arrival in 2022 of the breakaway LIV tour.

This year’s Players will play out in the absence of the reigning US Open champion. Last year the Masters winner was missing and in 2023 there was no title defence.

This, of course, is because Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith all play on LIV.

Their absence from the PGA Tour is felt more keenly this week than any other. The old debate as to whether the Players is the ‘ fifth ‘ major is no longer relevant and will not be until the game reunifies.

Here we have the most stark imperative for a deal to be done with LIV’s Saudi backers.

An agreement, though, is not imminent.

Monahan reiterated that no follow-up meetings are in the diary after the recent White House gathering with the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s governor Yasir Al Rumayyan ended without settlement.

“We appreciate Yasir’s innovative vision”, Monahan said. “And we can see a future where we welcome him on to our board and work together to move the global game forward.

” As part of our negotiations, we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform. We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together. “

Monahan added that while his organisation has” removed some hurdles, others remain”.

And no matter how hard the golf media tried, the commissioner flat-batted every enquiry as to how that might be achieved.

Monahan does not play verbal ‘ Bazball’, every non-answer dictated by the delicate nature of golf’s future.

Where he was more forthcoming, was an acceptance – at long last – that men’s professional golf has a problem with slow play. It seems steps are being taken where the biggest offenders will start to be named and shamed.

” We’ve committed to addressing the speed of play, “Monahan said as he announced working group recommendations that will be implemented to try to erase one of the sport’s biggest blights.

” We will begin publishing speed-of-play-related statistics later this season, “he added. From 14 April testing will begin on the PGA Tour’s feeder circuits to impose stroke penalties on the slowest golfers.

Monahan also confirmed that the use of range finders will be allowed at tournaments between next month’s Masters and the US PGA Championship in May to see whether this improves round times.

” We’re listening to our fans and we’re responding, and clearly this is something where they would like to see improvement, “the commissioner said.

” I think there’s a real commitment from players across the board to make certain that we’re doing everything that we possibly can to improve, and these three steps are just a start. “

This is a marked shift from an organisation that for decades insisted that slow play was not a problem. The rival LIV circuit has imposed stroke penalties on slowcoaches and now the PGA Tour is starting to respond.

” I look at this as a very positive development, “Monahan insisted.

” I think it’s pretty telling that when you’ve got six player directors that sit on our boards, and you’ve got 16 members of our Player Advisory Council, that there’s a lot of shaking of heads and there’s an understanding that this is an area where we need to improve. “

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa says publishing data that shows which players are quicker than others, thereby identifying the slowest, is a good idea.

” I don’t know why you wouldn’t want it to be released, “said the 2021 Open winner.

” You just have to start giving guys actual penalties, whether it be strokes or FedExCup (point deductions). What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. “

Morikawa added:” What is there to hide, right? If you’re slow, you know you’re slow. I mean, if you don’t know, then there’s an issue.

“To me, there’s no issue with letting it out. It’s only going to make things better because then you’re either going to have a target on you, put a little more pressure and hopefully you pick it up, or you get penalised. It’s very simple”.

Double US PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas agrees that publicly revealing which players are the slowest will have a beneficial effect.

“Nobody wants to be known as that”, said the US Ryder Cup star.

“I’m the first to admit I’m on the slow side of players. It bothers me, but I’ve talked to many officials about it, like I want to know why I’m slow because obviously the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they’re not slow”.

Fans will surely welcome such long-awaited initiatives to improve pace of play on the game’s biggest tour.

The Players Championship 2025

Venue: TPC Sawgrass Date: 13-16 Mar

While negotiations aimed at reunifying men’s golf grind to a halt, the PGA Tour is taking steps to speed up play.

Commissioner Jay Monahan’s state of the union news conference, before this week’s Players Championship here at Sawgrass, made clear that eradicating slow play has become more of a priority than ever before for a circuit that has always indulged slowcoaches.

But this, the tour’s marquee tournament, will again be played in the shadow of the ongoing split brought about by the arrival in 2022 of the breakaway LIV tour.

This year’s Players will play out in the absence of the reigning US Open champion. Last year the Masters winner was missing and in 2023 there was no title defence.

This, of course, is because Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith all play on LIV.

Their absence from the PGA Tour is felt more keenly this week than any other. The old debate as to whether the Players is the ‘ fifth ‘ major is no longer relevant and will not be until the game reunifies.

Here we have the most stark imperative for a deal to be done with LIV’s Saudi backers.

An agreement, though, is not imminent.

Monahan reiterated that no follow-up meetings are in the diary after the recent White House gathering with the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s governor Yasir Al Rumayyan ended without settlement.

“We appreciate Yasir’s innovative vision”, Monahan said. “And we can see a future where we welcome him on to our board and work together to move the global game forward.

” As part of our negotiations, we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform. We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together. “

Monahan added that while his organisation has” removed some hurdles, others remain”.

And no matter how hard the golf media tried, the commissioner flat-batted every enquiry as to how that might be achieved.

Monahan does not play verbal ‘ Bazball’, every non-answer dictated by the delicate nature of golf’s future.

Where he was more forthcoming, was an acceptance – at long last – that men’s professional golf has a problem with slow play. It seems steps are being taken where the biggest offenders will start to be named and shamed.

” We’ve committed to addressing the speed of play, “Monahan said as he announced working group recommendations that will be implemented to try to erase one of the sport’s biggest blights.

” We will begin publishing speed-of-play-related statistics later this season, “he added. From 14 April testing will begin on the PGA Tour’s feeder circuits to impose stroke penalties on the slowest golfers.

Monahan also confirmed that the use of range finders will be allowed at tournaments between next month’s Masters and the US PGA Championship in May to see whether this improves round times.

” We’re listening to our fans and we’re responding, and clearly this is something where they would like to see improvement, “the commissioner said.

” I think there’s a real commitment from players across the board to make certain that we’re doing everything that we possibly can to improve, and these three steps are just a start. “

This is a marked shift from an organisation that for decades insisted that slow play was not a problem. The rival LIV circuit has imposed stroke penalties on slowcoaches and now the PGA Tour is starting to respond.

” I look at this as a very positive development, “Monahan insisted.

” I think it’s pretty telling that when you’ve got six player directors that sit on our boards, and you’ve got 16 members of our Player Advisory Council, that there’s a lot of shaking of heads and there’s an understanding that this is an area where we need to improve. “

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa says publishing data that shows which players are quicker than others, thereby identifying the slowest, is a good idea.

” I don’t know why you wouldn’t want it to be released, “said the 2021 Open winner.

” You just have to start giving guys actual penalties, whether it be strokes or FedExCup (point deductions). What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. “

Morikawa added:” What is there to hide, right? If you’re slow, you know you’re slow. I mean, if you don’t know, then there’s an issue.

“To me, there’s no issue with letting it out. It’s only going to make things better because then you’re either going to have a target on you, put a little more pressure and hopefully you pick it up, or you get penalised. It’s very simple”.

Double US PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas agrees that publicly revealing which players are the slowest will have a beneficial effect.

“Nobody wants to be known as that”, said the US Ryder Cup star.

“I’m the first to admit I’m on the slow side of players. It bothers me, but I’ve talked to many officials about it, like I want to know why I’m slow because obviously the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they’re not slow”.

Fans will surely welcome such long-awaited initiatives to improve pace of play on the game’s biggest tour.