Aston Villa to sign Evann Guessand

Aston Villa have signed Evann Guessand from Nice for a fee of around 30 million euros, with a further 4 million euros in add-ons. Since making his Nice debut in 2020, Guessand has gone on to score 19 goals in 89 Ligue 1 apperances and last season was his best goalscoring campaign, with 12 in 32 games.

Evann Guessand is a 24‑year‑old French‑born forward who represents the Ivory Coast internationally and has established himself at Nice with versatility across the front line, able to operate as a central striker or on either wing, and strong all‑round attacking metrics during games in 2024‑25, with goal and assist numbers among the top 15 percent of forwards in Europe.

His ability to dribble in half‑spaces, link play intelligently, press defensively and adapt to multiple positions made him a long‑standing target for Villa, who are looking to complement Ollie Watkins with a dynamic forward.

In signing Guessand, it appears that Villa have finally secured a replacement to Jhon Duran, who last year departed for Saudi Arabia and a new challenge. Villa will officially unveil the player early next week.