Biography
Finnish international striker Marcus Forss joined the Tigers on deadline day at the end of January 2022, signing a half season loan deal. After an ranging-finding substitute debut against Preston he made his first Tigers’ start in a heavy 1-3 defeat at Derby County. He contributed just one goal, a fine short range strike at QPR, but generally struggled to impose himself on games and lost his place to Iranian striker Allahyar Sayyadmanesh.
Marcus Forss was born in Turku, a port city on the south-western coast of Finland with a rich history as a former capital. Forss progressed through a Finnish football school as a youngster before signing schoolboy terms for West Bromwich Albion at the age of 13, progressing to sign a two year scholarship contract in 2015. He made his senior debut for the Baggies in a November 2016 Football League Trophy group match against Gillingham, turning out for the Baggies’ under-21 side. Forss was released by West Bromwich in May 2017 and a month later he signed for Championship side Brentford.
After scoring a number of goals for the Bees’ B team, Forss was handed an extended contract in February 2018 and made his first team debut six months later, starting and scoring in an August 2018 League Cup tie against Southend United. He made a handful of Championship appearances that season, mostly off the bench, and scored his first senior League goal in May 2019 against Preston North End. After three appearances for Brentford in the early weeks of the 2019/20 season, Forss joined AFC Wimbledon on loan in September 2019. He scored on his AFC Wimbledon debut against arch rivals Milton Keynes Dons and went on to net 11 goals in just 19 appearances before a hamstring injury in January 2020 cut the loan short and ended Forss’ season.
Returning to fitness at the start of the 2020/21 season, Forss became an important part of the Brentford first team that won promotion to the Premier League via Wembley play-off victory over Swansea City. The Bees also reached the League Cup semi-final only to taste defeat against Tottenham Hotspur – Brentford beat four Premier League sides to reach the last four and Forss scored goals against two of them, former club West Bromwich Albion and Fulham. He scored a total of ten goals during the season and made 50 appearances, 34 as substitute. In the 2021/22 season Forss made seven Premier League appearances, six from the bench, and scored three goals in Cup competitions for Brentford before his loan move to Hull City at the end of January 2022.
In August 2022 Forss was transferred to Championship side Middlesbrough for a reputed fee of £3 million. He opened his goalscoring account in his second appearance for the Boro against Queens Park Rangers and ended the 2022/23 season with ten goals in 42 appearances as the Teessiders reached the play-offs only to lose narrowly to Coventry City in the semi-final. After a good start to the 2023/24 season an injury kept Forss out of the Boro team for three months, he returned in the New Year and ended his second season at the Riverside Stadium with seven goals.
Forss made his Finland under-17 debut in 2015, played for every youth level – under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 – and captained the under-19 side in 2018. He was handed his first senior international cap for Finland in a November 2020 friendly against France and within 28 minutes he scored on his debut. He added a second international goal in a November 2021 World Cup qualifier against Bosnia & Herzegovina that ended in a 3-1 victory.
Details
Nationality: Finland
Date/Place of Birth: 18 June 1999, Turku (Finland)
Hull City First Game: 5 February 2022, Preston North End H (Championship), 22 years, 232 days old
Hull City Final Game: 30 April 2022, Bristol City A (Championship), 22 years, 316 days old
Clubs
West Bromwich Albion (2015-2017), Brentford (2017-2022), AFC Wimbledon (2019-2020, loan), Hull City (2022, loan), Middlesbrough (2022-current)
Hull City Record
Career: 11 apps, 1 goals
Marcus Forss| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 5 (6) | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |