Marseille's Amine Gouiri making up for lost time

Amine Gouiri certainly hit the ground running when he joined Olympique de Marseille this time last year. Injuries had slowed the Algerian's momentum, but returning from injury, he is already making up for lost time at the Vélodrome.

Gouiri - the impact signing

Gouiri left Rennes to join Marseille last January. He was signed as the replacement for Elye Wahi, now at OGC Nice, who left OM to make the move to Eintracht Frankfurt. His signing was an immediate success. In the first half of the season, he had scored just three for Les Rennais, but he would score 10 for OM in the second half of the Ligue 1 McDonald's campaign. That included a hat-trick against Brest in a 4-1 win at the end of April. That was the first game in a three-match run in which he would net six goals in three.

It was his exploits, in part, that guided Roberto De Zerbi's side to a second-place in Ligue 1 McDonald's and a subsequent qualification for the Champions League. Coming into this season, he would have been looking to pick up where he left off.

Amine Gouiri. Baller. 🇩🇿🪄 pic.twitter.com/UEOU6WkhCU
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 19, 2026

However, his start to the campaign would not be as fruitful. He failed to net in OM's first six games of the league season. But a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over Metz in October could have proved a turning point, and it may have been had the forward not sustained a shoulder injury that would then rule him out for three months, depriving him of competing in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the process.

It was a tough blow for the former Nice and Rennes forward, who in competition for a place in the team with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, had looked to have turned a corner.

Upon his long-awaited return, Gouiri struck a confident tone, saying that "the stats will come". Whilst he didn't net off the bench during his return, a 2-0 loss to Nantes earlier this month, it didn't take him long to get back on the scoresheet.

Gouiri yet to open his account in Champions League

It was an attacking festival as De Zerbi's side put nine goals past lower-tier side Bayeux FC in the Coupe de France. Gouiri netted twice and assisted another in that big win, giving him the confidence to score his first goal in Ligue 1 McDonald's since making his return from injury back in earlier this month.

OM are in full flow going forward, having netted 14 goals in their last two games in all competitions. Gouiri, along with the likes of Aubameyang, Mason Greenwood, Igor Paixao, and another returnee, Hamed Junior Traoré, is a big boost for Les Phocéens, who have big objectives in the second half of the season.

Gouiri has yet to score in the UCL this season. In fact, he has only played 12 minutes in the competition, having come off the bench against Real Madrid on the opening matchday. Why not change that when Liverpool visit on Wednesday.

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