Marc Guiu Paz (; born 4 January 2006) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for club Chelsea.

Club career

Barcelona

Born in

Granollers Granollers (; ) is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental. Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Catalonia, Guiu began his career with Penya Barcelonista Sant Celoni, a fan club of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

. He went on to join Barcelona themselves in the 2013–14 season, and progressed through the ''

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; ), is FC Barcelona's youth academy. It includes more than 300 young players and has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success, producing several world class players and ...

'' academy, and was called up to the senior squad for the first time in June 2023, ahead of pre-season matches against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

and Japanese opposition

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stad ...

. Guiu made his unofficial debut for Barcelona in the latter game, coming on as a half-time substitute for

Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of a ...

. On 11 October 2023, he was again called up to the senior squad for a La Liga fixture against

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, though he did not eventually feature in the game. In the same month, he was named by English newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as one of the best players born in 2006 worldwide. On 22 October, Guiu made his senior competitive debut as a 79th-minute substitute, scoring the winning goal in 23 seconds with his second touch of a 1–0 victory over

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. At 17 years and 291 days of age, he became the youngest and fastest debutant to score for Barcelona in

. Guiu made his Champions League debut three days later in a 2–1 win against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

. He scored his first goal in the competition and second of the season on 13 December in a 3–2 defeat against

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club (commonly referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Antwerp. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Founded in 1 ...

Chelsea

On 1 July 2024, Guiu joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side Chelsea for a reported €6 million fee, signing a five-year contract with the club. On 18 August, he made his debut for the club, as a substitute, in a 2–0 loss against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the league. On 19 December, Guiu scored a first-half hat-trick against

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

in a 5–1 victory in the final league match of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa Conference League.

International career

Guiu has represented Spain at Under 17 and Under 19 level. In May 2023, he was called up by Spain U17 to compete in the

2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2023) was the 20th UEFA European Under-17 Championship (39th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football championship organise ...

, in which he became the competitions joint top scorer with four goals, alongside Paris Brunner, Robert Ramsak and teammate

Lamine Yamal Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana (born 13 July 2007) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Known for his flair, chance creation, and long-distance curling goals, Yamal ...

. In November 2023, he represented Spain U17 in the

2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 19th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football tournament contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was hel ...

, when he scored two goals.

Style of play

Barcelona youth coach Iván Carrasco describes Guiu as a "classic '9', a specialist in the area who exploits his physical power". He has been compared to

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

. He has a good high ball game, pace, strength and work-rate. Spanish football expert Guillem Balagué described Guiu as a striker who is known to be "more efficient in the box".

Career statistics

Honours

Chelsea *

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

: 2024–25 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Individual *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

joint top scorer:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

*UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guiu, Marc 2006 births Living people Footballers from Granollers Spanish men's footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Primera Federación players FC Barcelona players FC Barcelona Atlètic players Chelsea F.C. players UEFA Conference League–winning players La Liga players Premier League players 21st-century Catalan people Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century Spanish sportsmen