Charleroi finally find their long awaited striker last season. Serbian forward Nikola Stulic had been with the club since the 2022/2023 season, but had one goal by the start of the 2024/2025 season. Fast forward to June, and Stulic ended the campaign with an impressive 16 goals in just 29 games. He already had two goals in five games to start this season before being signed by Serie A side Lecce.
In his place, Charleroi have brought in Dender forward Aurelien Scheidler, who scored nine goals in 32 games for the then newly promoted side. I am skeptical that Scheidler will be the man to replace Stulic. Instead, Charleroi will need other players to step up. One of these already has last time the side played. Cote d’Ivoire winger Parfait Guiagon scored twice against the aforementioned Dender and grabbed an assist. So far this season he has three goals, all in his previous two games.
Guiagon has put together back to back strong seasons for Charleroi since joining from Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2023. During his first year, the winger scored six goals and grabbed four assists, with seven goals and seven assists last season. Charlerio will hope that Guiagon can push on to double figures in one of these categories to help with the loss of Stulic. He certainly has the ability, and is one of the sides most exciting players.
Guiagon wants to score goals. He attempts more shots than 74% of the wingers in the Pro League, creates more chances than 80% of Pro League wingers and touches the ball more than 85% of the league’s wide men. Charleroi travel to Brugge on Sunday to face Cercle, a side who have had some resurgence in recent weeks. Guiagon was on the score sheet the last time these two sides faced off in January. Given the form he is currently in, the chances of him doing this again seem pretty high.
With just one win from their opening five games, Charleroi will be hoping to turn things around quickly. They had a fantastic season last year in reaching Europe, only to fall in qualification for the Conference League. If Guiagon can push on, the chances of them having another successful season are certainly going to be increased.
