Evann Guessand

Evann Guessand
Guessand with Nice in 2025
Personal information
Full name Evann Ludovic Vidjannagni Guessand
Date of birth (2001-07-01) 1 July 2001
Place of birth Ajaccio, Corse-du-Sud, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
Crystal Palace (on loan from Aston Villa)
Number 29
Youth career
2008–2014 ASPTT Marseille
2014–2019 Nice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Nice B 25 (9)
2020–2025 Nice 89 (19)
2020–2021Lausanne-Sport (loan) 34 (7)
2022–2023Nantes (loan) 30 (3)
2025– Aston Villa 13 (0)
2026–Crystal Palace (loan) 2 (0)
International career
2017 France U16 4 (3)
2018 France U17 2 (0)
2019 France U18 5 (2)
2019 France U19 4 (0)
2024– Ivory Coast 19 (3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11 February 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 10 January 2026

Evann Ludovic Vidjannagni Guessand (born 1 July 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Premier League club Crystal Palace, on loan from Aston Villa. He also represents the Ivory Coast national team.

Guessand is a product of the Nice academy, and progressed through their youth and B sides to the first team, before transferring to Aston Villa in 2025. He also spent time on loan at Lausanne-Sport and Nantes earlier in his career.

Born in France, Guessand was a regular French youth international up to under-19 level, before switching to the Ivory Coast in 2024.

Early life

Evann Ludovic Vidjannagni Guessand[2] was born on 1 July 2001 in Ajaccio, Corse-du-Sud.[3]

Club career

Nice

Guessand made his professional debut for Nice in a 2–0 Coupe de France win over Fréjus Saint-Raphaël on 5 January 2020.[4][5] On 23 August, he made his Ligue 1 debut against Lens as a late substitute in 2–1 home win.[6]

On 3 October 2020, Guessand made his Swiss Super League debut against Zürich and scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 home victory.[7]

On 12 July 2022, Guessand joined Ligue 1 club Nantes on a season-long loan.[8] He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 league win over Toulouse on 28 August.[9] On 8 September, on his UEFA Europa League debut, Guessand scored the winning goal for Nantes in the final minutes of a 2–1 home victory over Olympiacos.[10]

Aston Villa

On 8 August 2025, Guessand signed for Premier League club Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee; the contract is valid until 2030.[11] This fee was reported to be worth €35 million (£30.5 million).[12] He made his Premier League debut as a late substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Brentford on 23 August.[13] On 23 October, Guessand scored his first Aston Villa goal in an eventual 2–1 Europa League defeat to Go Ahead Eagles.[14]

On 30 January 2026, Guessand joined fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace on a loan deal, with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.[15]

International career

Born in France, Guessand holds French and Ivorian nationalities.[16] He is a youth international for France.[17]

In December 2023, Guessand was pre-called up by the Ivory Coast national football team for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.[18]

Guessand made his debut for the Ivory Coast national team on 11 June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier against Kenya at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi. He substituted Emmanuel Latte Lath in the 61st minute of a scoreless draw.[19]

Guessand was originally only named on the back-up squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, however on 19 December 2025, he was called up to the tournament squad after an injury to Sébastien Haller.[20]

Personal life

Guessand is the older brother of Axel Guessand, who was also a French youth international footballer.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 11 February 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nice II 2018–19 Championnat National 2 7 1 7 1
2019–20 Championnat National 3 17 8 17 8
2020–21 1 0 1 0
Total 25 9 25 9
Nice 2019–20 Ligue 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
2021–22 20 1 5 0 25 1
2023–24 34 6 4 1 38 7
2024–25 32 12 2 0 7[c] 1 41 13
Total 89 19 12 1 7 1 108 21
Lausanne-Sport (loan) 2020–21 Swiss Super League 34 7 1 0 35 7
Nantes (loan) 2022–23 Ligue 1 30 3 5 1 9[c] 2 1[d] 0 45 6
Aston Villa 2025–26 Premier League 13 0 0 0 1 0 7[c] 2 21 2
Crystal Palace (loan) 2025–26 Premier League 2 0 0 0 2 0
Career total 193 38 18 2 1 0 23 5 1 0 236 45
  1. ^ Includes Coupe de France, Swiss Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearance in Trophée des Champions

International

As of match played 10 January 2026[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ivory Coast 2024 6 0
2025 11 3
2026 2 0
Total 19 3
Ivory Coast score listed first, score column indicates score after each Guessand goal.[22]
List of international goals scored by Evann Guessand
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 March 2025 Meknes Honor Stadium, Meknes, Morocco  Burundi 1–0 1–0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 10 October 2025 Côte d'Or National Sports Complex, Saint Pierre, Mauritius  Seychelles 4–0 7–0
3 31 December 2025 Marrakesh Stadium, Marrakesh, Morocco  Gabon 2–2 3–2 2025 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Nice

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Evann Guessand: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  2. ^ "2025/26 Premier League squad lists". Premier League. 12 September 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Evann Guessand". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  4. ^ Bacquié, Maxime (5 January 2020). "Coupe de France : OGC Nice / Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël". France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Coupe de France : l'OGC Nice bat l'Etoile FC Fréjus St Raphaël 2 à 0". France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (in French). May 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. ^ "OGC Nice – RC Lens match details". tntsports.co.uk. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Lausanne-Sport – FC Zürich match details". soccerway.com. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Evann Guessand prêté au FC Nantes !" [Evann Guessand loaned to Nantes!] (in French). FC Nantes. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Nantes vs. Toulouse". Soccerway. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  10. ^ "FC Nantes. Evann Guessand : « C'était une ambiance de fous »". Ouest-France (in French). 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Villa announce Evann Guessand signing". Aston Villa Football Club. 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  12. ^ Veal, Jonathan (7 August 2025). "Evann Guessand Aston Villa medical update as final transfer fee emerges". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Brentford v Aston Villa | 2025/2026 | Premier League | Overview". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Go Ahead Eagles vs Aston Villa | UEFA Europa League 2025/26". UEFA.com. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  15. ^ "Evann Guessand transfer: Crystal Palace sign Aston Villa forward on loan". BBC Sport. 30 January 2026. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  16. ^ "Evann GUESSAND –".
  17. ^ ""JE SENS UN GROUPE QUI VIT BIEN ENSEMBLE!"". 23 October 2020.
  18. ^ "AFCON 2023 – PROVISIONAL SQUADS LIST" (PDF). p. 13.
  19. ^ "Kenya v Ivory Coast game report". ESPN. 11 June 2024.
  20. ^ "Aston Villa News: Evann Guessand joins Ivory Coast squad". BBC Sport. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  21. ^ Trésarrieu, Flavien (22 June 2022). "Transferts : l'Udinese vise Axel Guessand (Nancy)". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  22. ^ a b Evann Guessand at National-Football-Teams.com
  23. ^ "Ludovic Blas penalty wins French Cup for Nantes". BBC Sport. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Guessand and Youssouf voted Aiglons of the season". OGC Nice. 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.