Early career Guerrero was born in
Lima, starting his football career in the youth teams of
Alianza Lima. In 2003, he signed a contract with
Bavarian giants
Bayern Munich. During the 2003–04 season, Guerrero played in the
Regionalliga Süd where he scored 21 goals in 23 games. During the
2004–05 season, he joined fellow countryman
Claudio Pizarro as a member of the Bayern first team.
Bayern Munich At the beginning of 2002, after rejecting an offer from
K.R.C. Genk of Belgium,
Bayern Munich of Germany announced his incorporation to the second team. This signing led to a conflict between
Alianza Lima and Bayern. The case was raised to
FIFA, which decided that the German club should pay for training rights since, although Guerrero had a formal contract with Alianza, it was not of a professional nature. Once the problem was solved, Guerrero began playing with Bayern Munich II in the Regionalliga South, which at that time was the third division of German football. On May 30, 2004 he was crowned champion in this category. At the team level, he played his first game with the Bayern professional team on October 23, 2004 against
Hansa Rostock.with the number "33", while his first goal in the Bundesliga was scored against
Hannover 96. In total, Guerrero spent four seasons at Bayern Munich, alternating the last two in the first team, the same team with which he scored ten goals in the
Bundesliga and two in the
UEFA Champions League. In June 2006 he left Bayern Munich. His destination was
Hamburger SV, a club with which he signed a four-year contract.
Hamburger SV In June 2006, it was announced that Guerrero had transferred to
Hamburger SV and signed a contract with the club through 2010. His first season was marred by an injury, which took away half his season, and his low productivity, being a substitute most of the season. Near the end, he did score three goals, making his season total 5 goals in 20 games. One of these goals was against former club Bayern Munich in a 1–2 victory which left Bayern with no possibilities of making it to the
UEFA Champions League. In the 2007–08 season, his second at Hamburg, Guerrero played 29 of 34 games in the
Bundesliga, scoring nine goals and getting four assists, as well as becoming an undisputed starter and a vital part of the side; he was the third top scorer, behind
Rafael van der Vaart (12 goals) and
Ivica Olić (14 goals). In the
UEFA Cup and qualification, he played nine games, scoring five goals and getting three assists. His first
hat-trick in his professional career was against
Karlsruher SC, in the last game of the Bundesliga, scoring the second, third, and fourth goals in a 7–0 victory. This victory secured them fourth place and a UEFA Cup spot for next season. By the beginning of the
2008–09 season, Guerrero had become first choice striker for Hamburger SV. Coach
Martin Jol even went as far as saying that Guerrero better not catch even a cold during the season. Guerrero was fined a club record (somewhere in the region of €50,000–100,000), in April 2010 for an incident at the end of a league game with
Hannover 96, where after apparently having been abused by a Hamburg fan, Guerrero threw his drink bottle into the crowd, striking that fan in the face. The
German Football Association (DFB) suspended Guerrero for five league games and fined him €20,000.
Corinthians Guerrero joined Brazilian club
Corinthians on 13 July 2012, on a three-year deal for a fee of
R$7.5 million. On 25 July 2012, he made his debut in a match against
Cruzeiro in the
2012 Brasileiro Série A, where Corinthians won 2–0. His debut in the "Timao" attracted the immediate attention of the Peruvian media to
São Paulo. In the 26th round of the Brasileiro, he played against
Botafogo and scored his first goal for his team. Guerrero grew in the later rounds of the Brazilian championship, scoring several goals that secured his place in the team's starting lineup. On November 27, 2012, days before embarking to Japan to compete in the
2012 FIFA Club World Cup, the athlete was honored by the Peruvian consulate in Brazil "in recognition of his sporting merits and professionalism, showing all the high values of Peruvian sport in Brazil and being considered as a starter in most of the matches played." It was at the
FIFA Club World Cup where Guerrero would make his most historic performance with Corinthians. On December 12, 2012, in the semifinals of the tournament against
Al Ahly of Egypt, Guerrero scored the only goal of the match with a header that took Corinthians to the final. On 16 December 2012, in the Club World Cup final against
2011–12 UEFA Champions League winners
Chelsea, Guerrero scored, again with a header, to give Corinthians the title of World Champions at club level. Paolo Guerrero was awarded the Bronze Ball as the third top goalscorer of the tournament. celebrating their
FIFA Club World Cup win In May 2013, Guerrero became the first Peruvian footballer to appear on the cover of
Placar, Brazil's biggest football magazine. The cover featured him as a warrior ("
guerrero" is similar to the Portuguese word "
guerreiro", both meaning "warrior") fresh out of battle, with blood on his legs, and carrying a Corinthians flag. In July 2013, Corinthians won the
2013 Recopa Sudamericana, defeating city rivals
São Paulo FC 4–1 on aggregate. Guerrero scored in the first leg, a 2–1 away win. At the end of the year, Guerrero ended up consecrated as his team's top scorer in the season by scoring 18 goals in 46 games and winning 2 titles. He was awarded as the best striker of the Brasileirao in the 2014 season. On March 17, 2015, Guerrero became the foreign player who scored the most goals for Corinthians, with 47 goals, surpassing Argentina's
Carlos Tevez who scored 46 goals. The record was obtained in a match against the Uruguayan club
Danubio F.C. for the third round of the second phase of the
2015 Copa Libertadores. In that match he was the great figure by scoring his first hat trick with Corinthians, the match ended 4–0 in favor of
Coringao. Guerrero became the top scorer of the post-relegation era, breaking the record that previously belonged to
Dentinho. In 2015, Guerrero and Corinthians were not able to reach a deal on the renegotiation of his contract, due to end on 15 July. Corinthians fans asked for his permanence and subsequent retirement at the club, since they considered him an idol and his contract ended in the middle of the year. But after being eliminated by Guaraní from the Copa Libertadores, finally, in June it was confirmed that Paolo would no longer continue in Corinthians for not reaching an economic agreement for his renewal. His last game for Corinthians was against
Fluminense on 24 May. Corinthians confirmed his release three days later.
Flamengo in 2016 It was announced on 29 May 2015, that Guerrero would join
Flamengo after performing well for
Peru at the
2015 Copa América in Chile, where Peru achieved Third place. He traveled to
Rio de Janeiro just one day after returning in Peru from the tournament. On 9 July 2015, having trained only one morning with the 'Mengão', he debuts in the evening against
Internacional, scoring a goal and providing an assist for a goal, sentenced a streak of 5 goals in less than 2 weeks, with which he would win the admiration of the Carioca fans, who created the anthem 'Acabou o caô. O Guerrero chegou' in his honor. Guerrero started 2017 season by scoring a brace at the
Taça Guanabara, scoring the first and third goals in Flamengo's 4–1 win over
Boavista on the first date of the group stage of the tournament, his compatriot
Miguel Trauco would also be present to score ''Mengao's'' second goal. In the final, Flamengo lost to Fluminense. In the
2017 Campeonato Carioca, Guerrero scored both of Flamengo's goals in a 2–1 semi-final win over
Botafogo leading Flamengo to the final. In the final, Guerrero scored a goal for Flamengo's temporary 1–1 against
Fluminense. In extra time,
Rodinei would score the winning goal for Flamengo to be crowned champion of the tournament, this would be the first title that Guerrero won since his arrival at the club. Paolo Guerrero was consecrated as the top scorer with 10 in 11 games goals and was distinguished as the best player of the tournament being included in the ideal 11. After his suspension for testing positive in anti-doping control, he returns to the field on 7 May 2018 in a match against
Internacional which ended in a 2–0 victory. However, on May 13 he scored his first goal of the season against
Chapecoense after a drought of 7 games without scoring, the CAS increased his suspension, which would mean he would miss the rest of the season until his return on July 18 against
São Paulo. During his suspension in 2017, Flamengo lost the
2017 Copa Sudamericana final, with his suspension contributing to the loss. Although he was greeted with enthusiasm, he has not scored since his second return. This complicated his chances of renewing, since sectors of the fans were very dissatisfied with his performance on the field and even off it. Finally, when his contract expired, he signed for Internacional.
Internacional On 12 August 2018, Guerrero signed with
S.C. Internacional on a three-year contract, after leaving Flamengo on a
free transfer. He was given the number 79, to commemorate
the last time Inter won the Campeonato Brasileiro. However, days before he was to debut, on 24 August, his FIFA ban was upheld, preventing him from playing his first match until April 2019. In 2019, Guerrero's number changed from 79 to 9, due to the departure of
Leandro Damião. After his ban expired, Guerrero finally made his debut for Inter in the
Campeonato Gaúcho against
Caxias, on 6 April, scoring in the 2–0 semi-final win. His
Copa Libertadores debut came against
Palestino of Chile, a match where he scored twice. Guerrero ended the 2019 season as the teams top goalscorer, with 20 goals in 41 games. In the midst of a goal drought of several weeks and rumors that he would be declared transferable, journalist Eduardo de Conto reported that Guerrero asked the board to terminate his contract to treat a knee injury. This was confirmed on 26 October 2021, when Inter released him on a "mutual agreement" to treat the alleged injury that had afflicted him since August last year.
Avaí On 21 July 2022, Guerrero joined
Brazilian Série A side
Avaí for the remainder of the
2022 season. On 5 November 2022, Avaí got relegated to the
Série B, being the first time team that Guerrero has played for that got relegated. Guerrero play 10 games with Avaí but did not score any goals.
Racing Club On 24 January 2023, Guerrero signed for
Argentine Primera División side
Racing Club. He scored his first goal on 22 February in the 89th minute against San Martín de Formosa in a
Copa Argentina match.
LDU Quito On 14 July 2023, Guerrero signed for
LDU Quito of Ecuador. On 3 August 2023, he made his debut away with LDU against
Ñublense scoring the winning goal in the 60th minute of play, with the match ending 1-0 in favor of the Ecuadorian team. He would score again on 27 September against
Defensa y Justicia in the first leg of the
2023 Copa Sudamericana semifinal. Finally, in this same tournament Guerrero with LDU managed to beat
Fortaleza via penalties despite having missed the first penalty of their team. He thus became the first Peruvian in history to win the Copa Sudamericana with a foreign club. He scored 3 goals in 7 games. He won the
2023 Ecuadorian Serie A scoring 5 goals in 15 games played, most of his goals were scored at the end of the tournament. He decided not to renew with the Ecuadorian club after learning that manager Zubeldía would not continue and ran the risk of not playing as a starter anymore.
Universidad César Vallejo in a match against
Sport Boys In a controversial decision due to Guerrero's age,
Roberto Mosquera would sign to play for
Universidad César Vallejo for the
2024 Liga 1 on 2 February 2024. On his debut against
Cusco FC, Paolo scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 draw at home. Guerrero left the club after his mother was targeted for extortion by a local criminal gang. The separation was amicable with club president
César Acuña promising the club would fulfil Guerrero's wish.
Alianza Lima On 1 September 2024, Guerrero returned to Alianza Lima. He scored his first goal back at the club on 21 September 2024, against
Sport Boys. On 22 April 2025, Guerrero became the oldest player to score two goals in the
Copa Libertadores, scoring against
Talleres, aged 41 years, 3 months and 21 days. ==International career==