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Done dealUpdated 12:25 UK · 1 Sept

Marc Guiu to RB Leipzig
Chelsea striker completes £15m move

ChelseaChelseaRB LeipzigRB LeipzigFee€17mReliability100%
The story so far
  1. 1 Sept
    Transfer confirmed
    Chelsea and RB Leipzig announced that Marc Guiu had completed his permanent move on a five-year contract.
  2. 29 Aug · 10:25
    Fee agreed, medical set
    Leipzig agreed a fee just under €20m with Chelsea and Guiu travelled to Germany to undergo his medical.
  3. 28 Aug
    Chelsea approve sale
    Chelsea gave the go-ahead for Guiu to leave for Leipzig, though the move still needed further work to complete.

The move in full

Chelsea have sold striker Marc Guiu to Bundesliga club RB Leipzig on a five-year deal, ending a two-year spell in which he struggled for regular first-team football.

RB Leipzig have completed the signing of striker Marc Guiu from Chelsea in a permanent deal, confirmed by both clubs on transfer deadline day. The 20-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the Bundesliga club, running until June 2031, and will wear the number nine shirt. The fee is reported at up to €17m including add-ons, with Sky Germany describing the base fee as just under €20m and Fabrizio Romano reporting it at around £15m, and Chelsea have retained a sell-on clause on any future sale.

Leipzig's managing director for sport, Marcel Schäfer, said Guiu was "a very good fit in the RB DNA with his intensity, tempo and incredible commitment", adding that he has "a lot of energy against the ball but is a presence in the box." Leipzig had been watching him for some time and moved as head coach Martín Demichelis looked to add attacking options, with forward Rômulo out injured. Guiu becomes a natural centre-forward alternative to Christopher Nkunku, and the move came on the same deadline day that Leipzig sent forward Conrad Harder out on loan to Strasbourg for the season, as the club reshuffled its options up front.

Chelsea signed Guiu from Barcelona's academy for a reported £5m in the summer of 2024, and the west London club have made a profit on this sale despite him never quite establishing himself as a regular starter. Over two seasons at Stamford Bridge he scored eight goals and added two assists in 29 appearances in all competitions, with six of those goals coming during Chelsea's run to the UEFA Conference League title. He also picked up a Club World Cup winners' medal with the club last year. Chelsea's statement on his departure thanked Guiu for his efforts and wished him well "as he begins the next chapter of his career" at Leipzig.

Guiu's game time had dried up over the past year. He joined Sunderland on loan at the start of last season but made only three appearances there, scoring once in the League Cup, before Chelsea recalled him after Liam Delap's hamstring injury left Enzo Maresca short of recognised strikers. Back at Stamford Bridge he still found starts hard to come by, finishing 2025/26 with three goals and two assists from 16 competitive appearances, well short of the regular football he needed at this stage of his career.

At Leipzig, Guiu gets the chance of a fresh start and more regular football, with the high-intensity, pressing style that Schäfer highlighted suited to Demichelis' approach. Guiu himself said: "This is exactly the right step for me. The club made a lot of effort for me and showed me a clear plan in our talks of what role I can have here." Wearing the number nine shirt and with his main competition being Nkunku, he should get an early opportunity to show the finishing that made him popular during Chelsea's cup runs.

What it does to the model

For Bawler's models, Leipzig gain another recognised finisher to call on as their season develops, while Chelsea's back-up options at striker get thinner following Guiu's exit. Because Bawler builds its ratings from what actually happens on the pitch — goals, chances created, chances conceded and who is actually starting — any change in Guiu's minutes and output at Leipzig, and in how Chelsea cover the striker position without him, will feed into those team ratings once matches are played this season.

How this is scored100%
  • Announced by the clubs100

A sourcing score, not a chance of completion: it grades how solid the reporting behind the move is. The stage and the evidence come from the sources listed below; the arithmetic is fixed in code, the same for every deal.

Sources

Related: RB Leipzig team page · All transfersRB Leipzig — every match prediction

Where this move lands

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