Crystal Palace’s turbulent season under Pierre Sage has taken another dramatic turn, and forward Evann Guessand finds himself right at the center of the storm. According to former Aston Villa scout Mick Brown, the Eagles are seriously weighing up terminating Guessand’s loan deal when the January transfer window opens, potentially sending the out-of-favour attacker packing back to Villa Park.
The 25-year-old Ivory Coast international has completely vanished from the matchday picture, missing each of Palace’s last five fixtures. With a bitter falling-out with Sage and a glaring absence from the club’s European squad list, Guessand’s second spell in South London is unravelling at an alarming rate.
From Initial Promise to Total Exile
Palace initially brought Guessand in on loan from Aston Villa under Oliver Glasner last January. While his introductory stint yielded mixed results, enough promise was shown for the Eagles to secure another temporary agreement over the summer, bypassing an immediate permanent transfer.
However, that gamble has quickly backfired. Guessand has struggled to adapt to the physical demands of the Premier League, failing to make any notable impact in the final third.
The boiling point arrived when manager Pierre Sage publicly called out the forward, demanding higher standards and eventually dropping him from the squad entirely following a frustrating 3-2 defeat to Fulham. Sage didn’t mince words about the situation, noting: “He hasn’t responded at the level I expect. We need to find a solution.”
A Tale of Two Responses
What makes Guessand’s exile particularly damning is how his teammates have reacted to similar public criticisms. When Sage publicly criticized Dwight McNeil and Jaydee Canvot alongside Guessand earlier this season, both players responded by knuckling down, putting in the hard work on the training pitch, and fighting their way back into the manager’s plans with strong performances against Lech Poznan and Leeds United.
In contrast, Guessand’s reaction has reportedly leaned toward sulking on the sidelines. According to Mick Brown, Sage has firmly concluded that the forward simply lacks the quality required to feature in his squad.
”If it’s going to be the latter, and it seems like it is, then he won’t have a future at Crystal Palace under this manager and maybe they’ll decide to send him back to Aston Villa,” Brown explained to Football Insider. “He hasn’t been involved with the matchday squad for a while, and if he can’t prove to the manager that he deserves to be there, then why should they keep him around?”
Sage Under the Microscope
While Guessand appears to be heading toward an inevitable exit, Sage’s heavy-handed management style is also generating quiet friction behind the scenes. The manager’s willingness to publicly air his grievances and freeze out players has sparked internal concerns at Selhurst Park regarding potential dressing room harmony.
Nevertheless, with McNeil and Canvot successfully weathering the storm, Sage’s tough-love approach has largely paid dividends—leaving Guessand isolated as the odd man out.
As the January window approaches, the writing is clearly on the wall. Unless Guessand undergoes a miraculous shift in attitude and form, his time in South London is effectively over, leaving Aston Villa to figure out what comes next for the struggling forward.
