Aston Villa are reportedly close to reaching an agreement with Crystal Palace over a season-long loan deal for Evann Guessand.
The 25-year-old joined us from Nice last summer, but after managing just two goals in 21 appearances through the first half of the campaign, he spent the second half on loan at Palace.
That proved to be a more fruitful spell for him, as having since returned to Villa over the summer for pre-season, the Ivorian international has once again struggled to fit into Unai Emery’s side.
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In turn, the sensible outcome for all concerned is seemingly a fresh exit, and although Palace opted against exercising their option to buy Guessand earlier this summer, our Premier League rivals are reportedly set to swoop again in a fresh move.
According to FootMercato, Guessand is on the verge of returning to Selhurst Park as an agreement between the two clubs is now said to be very close, and he is being tipped to join them in a paid season-long loan, with an option to buy included in the agreement.
With Leon Bailey also heavily being linked with a departure this summer, a double exit should give Villa some financial flexibility and space in the squad to bring in a reinforcement of our own better suited to Emery’s ideas and plans moving forward, and so it’s hoped that the deals materialise sooner rather than later to open the door for incomings well ahead of the end of the summer transfer window.
Beyond his struggles for goal involvements, Guessand simply hasn’t looked a good fit for us again this summer, regardless of what position he has been deployed in, as he has been fairly poor in the games that he has featured in.
Coupled with a clear lack of confidence, it just doesn’t look as though he will be able to make his mark at Villa which is a shame given the talent he displayed at Nice and fee spent on acquiring him, and so it’s hoped that a deal is worked out to produce the best outcome for all parties concerned.