Aston Villa Signs Evann Guessand from Nice for £26m

Aston Villa Signs Evann Guessand from Nice for £26m

Aston Villa Signs Evann Guessand from Nice for £26m

Aston Villa has reached an agreement to sign Nice striker Evann Guessand for a fee of £26 million, with an additional £4.3 million in performance-related add-ons.

The 24-year-old forward from Ivory Coast scored 12 goals last season and was named Player of the Season as Nice finished fourth in Ligue 1.

Guessand is expected to undergo a medical examination at Villa on Wednesday.

He was also a target for Crystal Palace and will be Villa's first significant signing of the summer transfer window. This follows the acquisition of Yasin Ozcan from Kasimpasa, who has been loaned to Anderlecht, and backup goalkeeper Marco Bizot, who joined from Brest for an undisclosed fee.

Since the departure of Jhon Duran to Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr in January, Villa has been exploring striker options, leaving them with only Ollie Watkins as their senior center-forward. Marcus Rashford, who spent the latter half of the previous season on loan at Villa, has now signed with Barcelona.

Guessand progressed through the youth ranks at Nice and signed a four-year contract with the club last summer.

He made his debut for the Ivory Coast national team in June 2024 and has since earned nine caps.

Aston Villa, who finished sixth last season, qualified for the Europa League and will kick off their Premier League campaign at home against Newcastle United on Saturday, 16 August, at 12:30 BST.

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