There are usually a few much-coveted qualities every club – including Leeds United – look for when considering bringing a new centre-forward to British football.
Does he have it in him to handle the speed and the physicality of the English game? Is he efficient enough in front of goal to stick away chances when they arrive against the division’s best defences?
Teams of Leeds United’s resources and their place in the pyramid tend also to prioritise young, improving players brimming with potential and re-sale value.
In this sense, OGC Nice’s ever-improving hitman Evann Guessand ticks more boxes than most.
While Daniel Farke is content with his striking options at Leeds currently, a likely return to the Premier League will bring about a need for reinforcement.
Joel Piroe deserves the chance to prove he can step up but Mateo Joseph has just three goals in 32 Championship games.
And if Leeds United are given the chance to remove Patrick Bamford’s considerable pay packet from their wage sheet – the injury-hit 31-year-old has not started a second-tier match all season – you can guarantee that they will do just that.
TEAMtalk say that, if Daniel Farke and co opt to look closer to home, Leeds may target Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor or Southampton’s Cameron Archer. Farke described Norwich City’s Josh Sargent as a ‘top striker’ recently and the £20 million-rated American is also under consideration at Elland Road.
But should Leeds look a little further afield and cast their net across the Channel, they may instead land on the aforementioned Evann Guessand.
Leeds United linked with red-hot Nice striker Evann Guessand
Nice’s number 29 has been labelled ‘revelation of the season’ over in France by influential newspaper L’Equipe, and for good reason.
Ahead of the current campaign, the most goals Guessand had ever scored in a league campaign was a paltry seven. A tally he recorded during a loan spell in Switzerland with Lausanne Sport in 2020/21.
That Guessand is already on nine for this season – with three months still go – is testament to just how far he has come. Still only 23, meanwhile, the France-born Ivory Coast international should still have plenty more gears to go through.
“I think Evann is well advanced and more consistent in his performances, but he still has so much room for improvement,” agrees Nice coach Franck Haise. “My concern is to get him to always be more demanding, to go even further, because we don’t know his limits.
“I’m pushing and we’re all pushing him to go even further because he’s a player who has enormous potential.”
Enormous potential, and pretty sizeable returns too.
In addition to his ten goals across all competitions, Guessand – who was linked with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in January – also has eight assists.
“He scored twice and provided an assist,” sighed Angers defender Abdoulaye Bamba after Nice’s Guessand-inspired 4-1 win back in September. “[We struggled to cope with his] power, physicality and technical qualities, with or without the ball.”
Guessand could be a ruthless goalscorer and the perfect foil for Leeds’ wingers
Guessand is outperforming his XG ever so lightly. Nine goals from an ‘expected goals’ return of 8.6.
An imposing presence at 6ft 2ins, Guessand is far from a pure targetman. Fleet of foot and blessed with superb footwork in tight spaces, many of his goals have come from engineering space in a crowded penalty area before unleashing a powerful strike on target.
Guessand’s excellent link play and appreciation of his teammates movements could also make him an ideal foil for the likes of Dan James and Manor Solomon, provided the latter signs permanently from Tottenham.
“Guessand is having his best season in his career,” Maxifoot write of a striker reportedly valued in the region of £20 million.
“Guessand is a constant burst of energy, [with] an ability to break through defences thanks to his long runs and a sometimes astonishing ability to slip between two, three, four or even five opponents.”
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