Marcus Forss


Marcus Forss is a Finnish professional football forward who plays for English club Brentford. He is a product of the West Bromwich Albion academy and is a current Finland U21 international.

Club career

Early years

A forward, Forss began his career in his native Finland with spells at FC Ruskon Pallo, TuWe and the FDS-Suomi football school. At age 13, he moved to England to join the academy at Premier League club West Bromwich Albion and progressed to sign a two-year scholarship deal in 2015. He was called into the U21 squad for two EFL Trophy matches in the first half of the 2016–17 season and made one appearance, with a start in a 2–0 group stage defeat to Gillingham on 8 November 2016. Forss was released when his scholarship ended in May 2017.

Brentford

On 22 June 2017, Forss joined the B team at Championship club Brentford on a two-year contract. After scoring 11 goals in his first 23 B team appearances, he signed a new -year contract in February 2018. He finished the 2017–18 season as the B team's top scorer with 21 goals and won the team's Player of the Year award. Forss was promoted into the first team squad for the 2018–19 season and despite missing five months of the campaign with a back injury, he was a regular inclusion in matchday squads when fit and finished the season with 9 appearances and two goals. After one goal in three early-2019–20 season appearances, Forss signed a new four-year contract and departed Griffin Park on a season-long loan. The loan was ended early in January 2020, due to a torn hamstring, which required surgery.

AFC Wimbledon (loan)

On 2 September 2019, Forss joined League One club AFC Wimbledon on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season. He scored seven goals in his first seven appearances for the club and scored the first senior hat-trick of his career in a 4–1 victory over Southend United on 12 October. Four goals in five appearances in October 2019 won Forss the EFL Young Player of the Month award. Four further goals in December 2019 saw him nominated for the League One Player of the Month award. By the time his spell was ended early by injury on 14 January 2020, he had scored 11 goals in 19 appearances.

International career

Forss has been capped by Finland at U17, U18, U19 and U21 level. He captained the U19 team, but was not included in the squad for the 2018 European U19 Championship on home soil due to club commitments.

Personal life

Forss hails from a football family. His father and brother are both involved in football and his grandfather is former Finland international Rainer Forss. He is a Manchester United supporter.

Honours