Guessand back among the Eagles
Crystal Palace have brought back a familiar face. The London club confirmed the return of Evann Guessand, on a season-long loan from Aston Villa with a conditional obligation to buy. The 25-year-old Ivory Coast forward already wore Palace colours in the second half of last season.
This is hardly a wild punt. In his first spell Guessand played 14 matches across all competitions, scoring twice and adding an assist. Nothing eye-catching on paper. Then again, he spent part of that run nursing a knee problem. He also had a hand in Palace lifting the Europa Conference League, the first European trophy in the club’s history.
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A signing crying out for a restart
The money tells its own story. Aston Villa paid close to 30 million euros to prise him away from Nice in the summer of 2025. Twelve months later they have agreed to ship him back out on loan. That says plenty about how hard Guessand found it to break into the Birmingham side’s plans.
For Palace it is shrewd work. They get back a player they already know, at a modest cost, with the option to make it permanent if he delivers. Not many loans hand both clubs this much clarity.
What Palace expect from him
He knows the dressing room, the staff and the league. That continuity should let him hit the ground running while other signings are still finding the training-ground toilets. At 25, he is also at the age when an attacker is meant to kick on.
The brief is simple. Palace want to build on their new European standing and need dependable options behind their main men. Get the Ivorian back to full fitness and that conditional obligation could turn into a straight transfer fast. A calculated gamble. Now he has to pay it off on the pitch.
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