After a quiet start to the summer transfer market, Aston Villa is making a push to bring in a talented attacking option in Evann Guessand from OGC Nice. Last season, Guessand made his stamp on the French Ligue 1 as a hybrid winger and forward, floating around the attacking midfield halfspaces to the tune of 20 goal contributions (12 goals and eight assists) spread across his 30 starts in the 2024-25 campaign.
According to football insider Fabrizio Romano, Villa have agreed to a transfer for Guessand with a €30 million base package with up to €5 million in bonus clauses for the 6-2 attacker fresh off a productive season in France.
At 24, Guessand would offer Villa manager Unai Emery a great deal of lineup flexibility due to the Ivory Coast international’s tall, strong frame, clever on-ball skills, and speed when racing upfield. Guessand has shown a penchant for taking on a defender and can receive the ball smoothly while deep in the buildup before a series of progressive carries.
From a statistical metric, Guessand ranked in the 89th percentile for non-penalty goals among Ligue 1 attacking midfielders last season, though he’s successfully converted a few penalty shots in his day as well. To top it off, Guessand is an aerial threat on set pieces and uses his adept spatial awareness skills to keep his teammates involved.
Restocking Villa’s attacking depth after loan spells expire
Heading into the summer, Villa was faced with the tricky task of balancing both PSR and SCR restrictions as Gabriel Esparza outlined yesterday. To make matters even more precarious, Villa would be losing the services of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio as both players returned to their parent clubs after loan spells to close out the 2024-25 season.
As a result, Villa opted to trust its scouting department and targeted Zepiquino Redmond, a Dutch 19-year old striker from Feyenoord with room to grow. Last season, Redmond logged nine appearances for the Eredivisie side, including a two-goal effort in the country’s KNVB cup in December according to The Sun.
Naturally, it would take a significant patch of growth for Redmond to supplant Ollie Watkins as Villa’s ideal No. 9, so it would not be a surprise to see the Dutch addition leave on loan before the summer transfer closes. Such a deal would therefore make Guessand’s addition to the Villa lineup all the more important with his versatility up top and knack for bagging goals.
Additionally, Villa right winger Leon Bailey has been linked to a number of clubs across Europe over the transfer window. Though Bailey started for Villa earlier against Roma, his ultimate future with the club is a bit uncertain with clubs continuing to make overtures. Guessand offers a somewhat similar profile to Bailey as a speedy attacker who can play in the half spaces, so the Dutch international could either provide quality competition or serve as a talented replacement depending on what happens to Bailey over the course of August.
Guessand is reportedly on his way to Birmingham to complete his medical tests later on.