Villa agree £30m deal for Nice striker Guessand

Aston Villa have agreed a deal to sign Nice striker Evann Guessand for £26m plus £4.3m in add-ons.

The 24-year-old Ivory Coast forward scored 12 goals last term and was named player of the season as Nice finished fourth in France’s Ligue 1.

He is expected to have a medical at Villa on Wednesday.

Guessand, who was a target for Crystal Palace, will be Villa’s first major signing of the summer. He follows Yasin Ozcan, who joined from Kasimpasa but has been loaned to Anderlecht, and back-up goalkeeper Marco Bizot who arrived for an undisclosed fee from Brest.

Villa have been looking at striker options since January’s departure of Jhon Duran to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr left them with just Ollie Watkins as their only senior centre-forward. Marcus Rashford spent the second half of the season at Villa on loan but has joined Barcelona.

Guessand made his way through the youth ranks at Nice and signed a four-year contract last summer.

He made his debut for Ivory Coast in June 2024 and has nine caps.