‘Magnificent’ was the word the commentator used during Sky Sports’ Bundesliga highlight show, and it was difficult to disagree.
Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy had already bamboozled the poor Mainz goalkeeper with a wonderful chip on his right foot before twisting Liverpool loanee Sepp Van den Berg inside-out and slotting in an ingenious second with his left on the 84th minute. There was still time for a third too; Guirassy once again channelling his inner-Dennis Bergkamp while flicking the ball over another centre-half and guiding an inch-perfect header over the onrushing glovesman.
A perfect hat-trick, in every sense of the word.
No player in the Bundesliga can come close to matching Guirassy’s remarkable tally of eight goals in just four appearances, the velvet-toed Frenchman finding the net nine times in all competitions.
Serho Guirassy is Europe’s most in-form striker
According to BILD, Guirassy turned down the chance to replace Aleksandr Mitrovic at Fulham over the summer, and also had reservations about joining a Nottingham Forest side unable to guarantee him a starting spot in a frontline already containing the influential Taiwo Awoniyi.
The Premier League’s loss, then, is most certainly the Bundesliga’s gain; Guirassy’s career-best form ensuring that Harry Kane’s pursuit of the ‘Torjägerkanone’ – handed out to the most prolific player in Germany’s top-flight each season – will not be a one-horse race.
“He is in the form of his life in my opinion. He is incredibly strong,” Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness beams, the well-travelled Guirassy becoming the first Stuttgart player in 55 years to hit the eight-goal mark after just four matches (DW).
“We hope he carries on like this.”
Nottingham Forest and Fulham missed out
Former Stuttgart director Robin Dutt, meanwhile, believes it is only a matter of time before clubs come knocking on the Schwaben’s door again. Maintain his two-goal a game ratio – albeit a highly unlikely prospect – and it won’t just be teams of the stature of Nottingham Forest or Fulham calling for Europe’s most in-form number nine.
“About Guirassy; He currently has perfect anticipation skills. He recognises dangerous areas early, runs into them consistently at pace, and is very well supplied with passes from his team-mates,” Dutt tells BILD.
“I don’t want to raise the bar for him after four games. But if he can deliver this performance all season long, he won’t be able to be kept (at Stuttgart).
“A record transfer fee will then be possible for VfB.”
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