Aston Villa loanee Evann Guessand will reportedly make his move to Crystal Palace permanent this summer if he has five more goal involvements this season.
The 24-year-old joined us from Nice last summer, but after struggling in his first few months at the club as he contributed just two goals in 21 appearances across all competitions, Villa opted to approve a loan move to Palace for the remainder of the campaign with an option for them to make it permanent.
Guessand has already fared much better at Selhurst Park as he has two goals and an assist in six games for the Eagles thus far, and so it certainly seems like a better fit for all concerned, albeit Villa have continued to struggle in the final third and must address that in the summer.
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According to Sky Sports News, Guessand now needs five more goal involvements between now and the end of the season to trigger an obligation to buy in the agreement between Villa and Palace, with the latter then required to spend £28m to sign him outright.
At this stage, it feels as though it would be in the best interests of all concerned if that clause was indeed triggered as Guessand is performing well for Palace, while that transfer fee would perhaps give us an opportunity to bring in a player that is better suited to Unai Emery’s attacking system and set-up.
Palace still have 10 more Premier League games remaining this season, while the Eagles are still involved in Europe, and so there will likely be confidence that he will meet that criteria, but it’s stressed in the report above that Palace will still have an option to sign him on a permanent basis, and there is reportedly a sense at this stage that they are keen to do so regardless of the potential obligation.
Time will tell how the situation plays out, but from a Villa perspective, if the Ivorian international does indeed move on, our recruitment has to be much better ahead of next season as our efforts to strengthen Emery’s squad this past year have been poor in many instances and we must bring in players capable of making a crucial long-term impact.