Transfer News: Evann Guessand to sign for Aston Villa

The 24 year old forward looks like he is set to complete his summer transfer to Unai Emery’s Villa in the coming days following reports of a deal being agreed with the player and with his current club, Nice.

So far, it has been a quiet summer transfer window for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa as they continue their preparations for the upcoming 2025/26 Premier League season, which will be their third full campaign in the English Top Flight under the stewardship of the Spaniard.

The only senior player signed so far has been Dutch Goalkeeper Marco Bizot from French Ligue 1 outfit Brest, for an undisclosed fee.

Deals have also been completed for some young players, too, with the likes of Yasin Ozcan and Zepiqueno Redmond joining from Turkish club Kasimpasa and Dutch Giants Feyenoord, respectively. The former has already been loaned out to Belgian Club Anderlecht for the season, who also have an option to buy Ozcan.

Aston Villa now looks set to have finally completed a deal to sign another player, this time in the form of OGC Nice’s versatile forward Evann Guessand.

The 24 year old plays his football for the Ivory Coast at international level, and he has just had his best-ever season in senior football in the 2024/25 campaign.

The rumoured fee that has been agreed upon to see him sign for Unai Emery’s side is an initial £26 million, which will rise to approximately £30 million with add-ons. Reports, including from the BBC, claim that Guessand will be having his medical with the West Midlands club before going ahead and signing the contract for his new club.

Evann Guessand is a player who can play both left and right wing, as a second striker, and as a centre forward leading the line. He is the first Ivorian player to have signed for Aston Villa since Jonathan Kodjia, back in the Championship days, and he too was a forward for the Midlands club.

It was also reported that Villa have fended off interest from other clubs, including Crystal Palace and Saudi Arabian club NEOM SC.

To look at the start of his career, we have to go back to 2008 when, at the age of 7, he joined ASPTT Marseille, before going on to spend 6 years at that club, before eventually agreeing to join OGC Nice aged 13 back in 2014.

Fast forward to 2020, and at the age of 19 he started to become part of the Nice first team, making his professional debut for Le Gym (The Gym) in a Coupe de France victory against Frejus Saint-Raphael back on 5th January 2020 – it was a comfortable 2 – 0 win for Guessand and his team in that game on that particular day.

He then made his debut in Ligue 1 when he came on as a late substitute against RC Lens in what was a 2 – 1 victory in a home game for Nice at the 36,178 capacity Allianz Riviera.

He went on to make 3 senior appearances overall for the club in the 2019/20 campaign.

In the 2020/21 season, he was sent out on a season long loan to Swiss Super League Club Lausanne-Sport in his search for some regular senior football. This did indeed see him compete regularly at first team level, with him making his debut against FC Zurich in what was an emphatic 4 – 0 home victory, where he was also able to get his name on the scoresheet for his club as well.

By the end of that campaign, Evann Guessand had made a total of no less than 44 appearances in all competitions for Lausanne Sport, with 30 of these appearances came in the Swiss top flight, with him finding the back of the net on a total of 7 occasions, whilst he was able to also provide as many as 5 assists to boot.

He helped his side to what was a 6th place finish in the end after they were able to accumulate a total of 46 points from their 36 games in total that term.

He then spent the entirety of the 2021/22 season back at his parent club, OGC Nice, making 25 appearances in all competitions, with him providing a goal and three assists overall, with all of his goal contributions coming in Ligue 1.

After this campaign, he was sent out on loan once again by Nice, with Guessand officially joining fellow French and Ligue 1 Club FC Nantes for the duration of the 2022/23 season. Outside of the league, he made appearances in the Coupe de France, that season’s UEFA Europa League, as well as the Trophée des Champions, scoring 2 goals in 14 appearances across all of these cup competitions.

As for the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season, Evann Guessand contributed a further 3 goals and 2 assists in his 30 appearances in the French top flight, helping his side to a 16th place finish after 38 games, earning 36 points in the end. They avoided relegation down to Ligue 2 by a margin of just one point ahead of 17th place Auxerre.

It was from there that Guessand would become a regular fixture in the Nice first team squad, making 34 appearances alone in Ligue 1, whilst a further 4 came in the Coupe de France.

In the 2023/24 Ligue 1 campaign, the Ivory Coast international found the back of the net on 6 occasions, as well as providing a further 2 assists. He also scored a goal in the aforementioned Coupe de France in that season.

Then came last season, 2024/25, where he would go on to have his best ever season so far in senior football. In Ligue 1, he scored 12 goals and also got a total of 9 assists to boot in his 33 appearances for Nice in the top flight of French Football.

He also scored a goal in the UEFA Europa League last season, making 7 appearances in that particular European Competition. He also made 2 appearances in the Coupe de France that year, getting 1 assist.

Evann Guessand joins the club as a player who can play all across the front line, with him currently favouring the right flank as an inside forward, which means he provides some stern competition for the likes of Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey.

With him also able to play up front as a centre forward and on the left flank, Guessand is also able to provide competition for Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, John McGinn, and Jacob Ramsey.

Excitement and anticipation are both building rapidly ahead of the start of the 2025/26 Premier League season, with Unai Emery’s Villa side also set to compete in the UEFA Europa League, the FA Cup, and the Carabao Cup as well.

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