Ligue 1 – Nice: Evann Guessand, the season that changes everything

Four and a half months after this sinister Care Evening, who had seen his team somber in Nice (8-0, September 20), Olivier Dall'oglio has forgotten nothing of the ordeal that Evann Guessand (23) had lived to his players. “”Please rekindle these memories (laughs)! How do you summarize this match and Guessand's performance? I was looking forward to everything to end. That evening, he had done a lot of damage “recalls the now ex-coach of Saint-Etienne, dismissed last December. Guessand had delivered a decisive pass to Youssoufa Moukoko, a few minutes after scoring the fifth goal of the Aiglons. “”He was in almost all shots. In two words, he was powerful and effective.“

The Stéphanoise defense, renowned It is true for his porosity, is not the only one to have been tormented by the striker of the OGC Nice, author of eight goals and four assists in Ligue 1, to which are added a Purpose in the Europa League against the Belgians of the Sainte-Gilloise Union (2-1, December 12), a competition in which the Azureans do not really sparks, and a decisive pass against Bastia in the Coupe de France (1-0, January 14). That of Angers, swept by the Nice striking force (1-4, September 1) is one of the main victims of Guessand. “”He had marked twice and issued a decisive pass “intervenes the Ivorian defender of SCO Abdoulaye Bamba, impressed “by power, physical and technical qualities and game with or without balloon“From Aiglon. This season in L1, the player born in Ajaccio was involved thanks to his goals or his assists in five victories and an OGCN match, which says quite long in the place he occupies in the workforce of Franck Haise.

But before this 2024-2025 season, of which he is one of the revelations, Evann Guessand patiently crossed the stages, since his first and furtive appearance-one minute-in L1 against Lens, August 23, 2020 (2-1) . In 2021-2022, Nice lent him to Lausanne Sport, one of the other clubs in the Galaxy Ineos, and the attacker opened his counter a few days after his arrival in the canton of Vaud, during a wide success against the FC Zurich (4-0, October 3, 2021).

The Swiss goalkeeper Thomas Castella, who observes with interest the continuation of the career of his former teammate, is convinced that his visit to Lausanne Sport was beneficial to him. “”He was looking for playing time. His natural qualities – speed, power, technique – were noticeable, but the first months were not extraordinary. We felt that Evann wanted to progress, he was attentive, he worked, but he needed time to adapt. “Guessand was thus much more to his advantage during the second part of the season.”And in the end, I believe that it did him good to leave his Nice cocoon and to go to another country. He gained experience and maturity during his visit to Switzerland“, Adds Castella. The following season, and despite this rather convincing Swiss interlude (7 goals, 5 assists), Evann Guessand was again loaned to FC Nantes, with a five goals and two assists .

“He probably needed this before returning to Nice, a club that has fairly high ambitions“, Resumes Abdoulaye Bamba. During his return to the OGCN, Guessand scored seven times and delivered two assists, all competitions combined.”He is a player who has progressed a lot in recent years, in many areas. It is more effective, even sharper “adds the Angevin defender. Evann Guessand, former French international in less than 16, 17, 18 and 19 years old and who became Ivorian international last June against Kenya (0-0) in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, has not yet opened its meter with elephants. But he has already left a very good impression on his teammates in the national selection. “”Yahia Fofana, our goalkeeper in SCO and who is that of Côte d'Ivoire, told me several times that he was impressed by his power, his technical ease“, Continues Bamba.

Under contract until June 30, 2028 and valued between 20 and 24 million euros, the Nice striker logically aroused the interest of other clubs during the winter transfer window, including that of Marseille, which the OGCN will face on Sunday, and English from West Ham United. But Evann Guessand does not want to leave his club in the middle of season. A posture that Olivier Dall'Oglio considers rational. “I am not a big fan of the winter transfer window. Changing club at the end of January is risky. Guessand prefers to stay in Nice, where he is an important player, where he is confident, and I think it's a Intelligent choice. »