The two-striker system has fallen out of fashion a little at the top of the European game in recent years, the kind of centre-forward partnership best exemplified by Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke or Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez at Manchester United increasingly seldom-seen.
So it is testament to the tactical nous of Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness that the Bundesliga high-flyers have found a way to get both Denis Undav and Serhou Guirassy in the same starting XI, while ensuring that his Champions League-chasing side are not vulnerable to overloads in midfield.
Undav, the striker who looked incapable of hitting a barndoor with a double bass yet alone a banjo at Brighton, has 14 goals in 14 league starts for Stuttgart. A tally which, while obviously very impressive, still cannot come close to matching that of the Manchester United linked Guirassy.
The Stuttgart duo make up half of the Bundesliga’s top four goalscorers in 2023/24, alongside Harry Kane and Lois Openda. Guirassy took his tally to a quite stunning 21 in 16 starts with a typically pinpoint finish in last week’s 2-0 victory over Union Berlin.
As far as the Stuttgart supporters are concerned, however, we’d recommend enjoying the Undav and Guirassy partnership while it lasts. Because it might not, at least for much longer.
Manchester United like Serhou Guirassy
“I was told by (director) Fabian Wohlgemuth and Sebastian Hoeness that it could be that Serhou is leaving,” Undav tells Sky Germany, that much-discussed £15 million release clause almost certain to be triggered in the summer with Man United reportedly among Guirassy’s many admirers.
“Things are going well for Serhou right now,” adds Undav, who himself is facing a long term fuutre on loan at the Mercedes Benz Arena from Brighton. “You can’t take him out (of the starting XI). He’s scored his goals and hopefully he’ll continue to score them. Things are going well for me too at the moment.
“That’s why the coach himself says that he you have to find a way to get both of them on the pitch. You can’t leave one on the bench.
“Serhou knows about my quality. He knows how he can use me and vice versa. We simply understand each other blindly. We know exactly what makes the other tick, how the other one works plays where his strengths are and how you have to use them.
“That’s what we’re trying to bring to the pitch.”
21 goals in just 16 starts
Guirassy, per Tuttomercatoweb, held talks with Man United in January. A dream move to Old Trafford may have come to fruition had those Financial Fair Play concerns not prevented Erik ten Hag from adding to his attacking options.
According to Fabrizio Romano, United will look to pick up where they left off in the winter and bring in an experienced centre-forward to ease the burden on Rasmus Hojlund. With 27-year-old Guirassy available for £15 million – a mere fraction of the fee it would take to sign Brentford’s Ivan Toney, for instance – Guirassy falls into the same category as, say, Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise.
Attainable – Olise is a big Man United fan – and most probably affordable too.
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