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 (age 24)
Place of birth	Ajaccio, Corse-du-Sud, France
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) [1]
Position(s)	Forward attacking midfielder
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)
2020–2021	→ Lausanne-Sport (loan)	34	(7)
2022–2023	→ Nantes (loan)	30	(3)
2025–	Aston Villa	13	(0)
2026–	→ Crystal Palace (loan)	0	(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 18 January 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 22 January 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	0	0	—		—		0	0	—		0	0
Career total			191	38	18	2	1	0	23	5	1	0	234	45

1. Includes Coupe de France, Swiss Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. 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

• Coupe de France runner-up: 2021–22 ^[23]

Individual

• Nice Player of the Season: 2024–25 ^[24]

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. 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.

External links

• Profile at the Crystal Palace F.C. website
• Evann Guessand at the French Football Federation (in French)
• Evann Guessand – UEFA competition record ( archive )