Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy takes on his former side Lille in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday as seemingly the finished product, a decade in the making.
Guirassy has almost single-handedly guided a struggling Dortmund through the Champions League so far this term after signing last year from Stuttgart.
In his first season in Europe's top competition, Guirassy has more goals than anyone else in the Champions League, with 10 in 10 matches.
That dominant showing is a far cry from Guirassy's time at Lille, who he joined from boyhood club Laval in 2015.
Guirassy played just nine games for Lille, scoring once, and was sent out on loan to then-Ligue 2 side Auxerre, before joining Cologne in 2016.
His disappointing stint at Lille was one of several stops as he bounced around the first and second divisions in France and Germany, before exploding into form for Stuttgart last season.
As recently as two seasons ago, Guirassy, a 1.88-metre tall striker equally adept with his head as with both feet, looked on track for a career marked by missed opportunities and failed potential.
After making his top-flight debut with Lille in 2015, aged 18, Guirassy played for five different clubs in seven seasons until his move to Stuttgart in 2022.
He struggled with a series of muscle and knee injuries, which robbed him of confidence and consistency.
Only once did he hit double figures in a domestic league campaign, scoring 10 goals in 27 games for Rennes in 2020-21.
UNREACHED HEIGHTS
Last term, however, Guirassy hit heights he had never reached before.
He scored 28 goals in 28 Bundesliga games as Stuttgart, relegation candidates the previous season, finished second ahead of Bayern Munich.
His class and versatility in front of goal earned him a move to Dortmund in the summer. This season, the France-born Guinean international has continued his stellar form, particularly in Europe.
Guirassy's exploits in yellow and black, with 24 goals in 32 games in all competitions, are all the more impressive considering how badly Dortmund have struggled.
Last season's Champions League finalists have crashed back to earth this year. Dortmund sit 10th in the Bundesliga table, 26 points behind leaders Bayern and six points outside the top four.
Dortmund finished 10th in the Champions League league phase – one point and three spots behind Lille, but crucially outside the top eight, meaning they needed to navigate a two-legged play-off tie with Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon.
Guirassy scored a goal and laid on an assist in a 3-0 win in Portugal, putting Dortmund on track to face Lille.
'MORE TO COME'
Dortmund may have needed Guirassy to bail them out regularly this season, but there are indications the 1997 Champions League winners have turned the corner under new coach Niko Kovac.
Saturday's 2-0 win at St Pauli was just Dortmund's second away win in the league this season – and the first time they have won two Bundesliga games in a row this term.
Kovac, a former Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt and Monaco coach, has only had six games in charge, but his simplified message seems to resonate.
Germany forward Karim Adeyemi has been perhaps the most obvious beneficiary.
Against St Pauli, the 23-year-old scored a stunning solo goal and created a goal for Guirassy.
"I don't think we were in the position we deserve in the table," Adeyemi told the Bundesliga website.
"(Kovac told me to) 'Play to my strengths, speed and one-on-one duels – and score goals'.
"That's what he wants. I try to show that and to bring it every game.
"I'm gaining self-confidence, but there's definitely more to come. I'm building on that."