Striker who turned down Chelsea transfer in 2020 now scoring at higher rate than Erling Haaland and Harry Kane

Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy, who turned down a move to Chelsea in 2020, has been in sensational form this season.

The Guniea international has scored 11 goals in six appearances across competitions. He also became only the second player, after Robert Lewandowski (2020-21), to score 10 goals in the first five games of a Bundesliga season.

Guirassy's scoring rate is much higher than that of Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Bayern Munich's Harry Kane. While Haaland has scored eight goals in six Premier League games, Kane has netted seven in five Bundesliga outings.

Guirassy's exploits have helped Stuttgart to third position in the league table, just a point behind Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. Chelsea, meanwhile, were interested in signing the striker in 2020 when he was at French club Amiens SC.

Guirassy, though, declined the move, as he wanted to play regularly and chose to join Stade Rennais instead. Amiens SC sporting director John Williams told Le Parisien:

“He refused to go to Chelsea during the last window. Serhou made a sporting choice when he could earn more money with the London team.

"He wanted to continue in a club where he was sure to have some playing time and not relive an experience like the one in Koln where he was a substitute.”

Guirassy scored 25 goals and provided four assists in 81 games for Rennes before joining Stuttgart two years later.

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Gus Poyet offers his take on Nicolas Jackson's struggles at Chelsea

The Blues signed striker Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal for around €35 million in the summer, but he has failed to live up to expectations. The Senegal international has scored just once in seven games across competitions, missing some big chances.

Moreover, he has picked up five yellow cards in the Premier League, which means he will now serve a one-game ban. Gus Poyet is shocked at the same and explained how that shows that Chelsea aren't using Jackson properly. He said (via GOAL):

“Jackson is a player that likes to run in behind, but at this current moment, Chelsea’s game is not finding him in the right areas."

"When a striker isn’t scoring for me, I like to think about playing in the right way for him to score. He needs to be supported and delivered passes in order to perform."

Poyet added:

"Sometimes it’s down to the player – if we put in 50 crosses for him and he misses three 1v1s – but sometimes it’s down to the functionality of the team.

"I think with Jackson it’s a little bit of both, and he’s clearly frustrated because he’s already picked up five yellow cards in six games, which is incredible for a striker.”

The Blues have scored just five goals in six Premier League games this season and are 14th in the table with just one win.