Guillaume Hoarau (born 5 March 1984 in Saint-Louis, Réunion) is a French football player who plays for French club Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. He is noted for his imposing height standing at 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m) and his prolific goal-scoring.

Early career

Hoarau started his football career at JS Saint-Pierroise in his native Réunion. In 1995, Le Havre AC scouts considered him too "thin" and signed his then-teammate Florent Sinama-Pongolle. After gaining the attention of then-Le Havre manager Jean-François Domergue, Hoarau signed his first professional contract at the age of 20 for Le Havre AC in January 2004. He made his league debut on 12 May 2004 against LB Châteauroux in a 1–2 loss coming on as a substitute. Despite being signed, Hoarau spent the majority of his career under Domergue playing in the reserves often earning call ups to the senior squad, but then quickly getting sent back down.

Ligue 2 star

Under new manager Jean-Marc Nobilo, his 4th different manager in four years, Hoarau was installed as the lead striker and flourished. Playing in all 38 league matches, he was top scorer scoring 28 goals and, at one point during the season, scored at least one goal in 12 straight matches. His performances led to the French media naming him the "Karim Benzema of Ligue 2" as Benzema was having a similar season in Ligue 1. His performances caught the eye of several Ligue 1 clubs, such as Auxerre, Marseille, and Paris Saint-Germain to name a few, and English clubs Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, and Chelsea, who likened the player to Peter Crouch. Eventually, it was announced in January 2008 that Hoarau had signed with Parisian club Paris Saint-Germain on a four-year deal after reportedly snubbing the club's primary rival Olympique de Marseille. PSG paid Le Havre fee of €500,000 and also allowed the player to finish the Ligue 2 season with his former club, whom he helped achieve promotion to Ligue 1.

Paris Saint-Germain

Hoarau arrived in Paris following the Ligue 2 season with high expectations as he was expected to replace club legend Pauleta and live up to comments made by former president Alain Cayzac, who referred to Hoarau as being the "signing of the century" for Paris Saint-Germain. He made his debut for Paris Saint-Germain in a 1–0 defeat at Monaco on 9 August 2008. His breakthrough into the team came in the annual Classique against rivals Marseille on 26 October 2008.

Due to his great performances, Hoarau was linked to several clubs, most notably Olympique Lyonnais, who offered €10 million for the player's services. However, both Hoarau and Paris Saint-Germain downplayed the offer and, two days later, Hoarau signed a contract extension until 2013. Following his successful first season in Paris, Hoarau has struggled to reproduce the same kind of form. Since the signing of new striker Kevin Gameiro in the summer of 2011, both Hoarau and Erdinç have been relegated to the substitutes' bench, and the former suffered a serious injury on the very first day of the 2011–12 season.