Rumours about Evann Guessand’s future at Aston Villa hit a dead end this morning. His agent put out a firm statement clarifying exactly where the player stands. Reports from Turkey earlier this week claimed Besiktas had made the 24-year-old forward a top target.
Evann Guessand Stays at Villa Park
The Istanbul club apparently saw the Ivorian international as a way to make a complicated deal work to send Tammy Abraham back to the Premier League. Aston Villa still really want their former loan star, Tammy Abraham. They reportedly hoped to use Guessand to bring down the total cost. However, the player’s team acted fast to shut down the talk.
Speaking to Turkish journalist Ersin Albayrak, Guessand’s agent didn’t mince words. He made the situation very clear. “Guessand will definitely stay at Aston Villa. We have no intention of going anywhere, 10000%,” relayed the Turkish journalist.
This straight-to-the-point response basically kills the swap deal involving Abraham. The striker is currently on loan at Besiktas from AS Roma. The Turkish side have a deal to buy the Englishman for €13m, but they seem to want to move him on quickly for a profit of around €20m. Villa’s recruitment team now have to rethink things if they still want to secure Abraham before the deadline.
Villa’s Striker Headache: What This Means for Unai Emery?
This firm refusal to leave gives Unai Emery plenty to think about as the season reaches the business end. Aston Villa paid a big £30m fee to get Guessand from OGC Nice only five months ago. Still, the forward has found it hard to take Ollie Watkins’ spot in the team.
By keeping Guessand, the club keep their options open, but they might be missing a chance to get some cash back or bring in someone new. Emery now has to figure out how to get more out of the forward instead of offloading him so early into his stay. Sticking with the 24-year-old Ivorian winger means Villa are betting on him to improve and back up Watkins.
The squad are thin on senior strikers, so Guessand needs to step up if injury hits. On top of that, this makes getting Tammy Abraham a lot harder. Without a player to trade, Villa’s bosses would have to pay full price in cash to meet what Besiktas want.
This situation really tests how much the club are willing to spend on the front line while watching the budget. Emery basically has two paths: get Guessand firing right now, or find the money to bring Abraham back regardless of who is already in the squad.
