Evann Guessand’s Crystal Palace future has been thrown into doubt, with former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown claiming manager Pierre Sage is increasingly frustrated with the forward.
Guessand has struggled to secure regular first-team football since returning to south London on loan from Aston Villa, and has been left out of important matchday squads.
Evann Guessand faces fight to revive Crystal Palace career
Brown said Guessand’s form and application had contributed to his omission from the Palace squad, while suggesting a disagreement had developed between the player and Sage after he was dropped.
“I’ve had my doubts about Guessand from his time at Aston Villa where he really struggled,” Brown said.
“Now he’s not even getting into the squad at Crystal Palace because he’s not good enough, his performances haven’t been good enough and the manager has other options.”
Guessand initially showed promise during his first spell at Palace, including scoring against Wolves, but the Ivory Coast international has been unable to reproduce that impact under Sage.
Brown said the 25-year-old now faced a choice over how to respond to his reduced role.
“Either he gets his head down and works hard to improve and show the manager that he deserves to be there, like his teammates have, or he sulks and stays on the sidelines,” he said.
Brown also claimed Sage had publicly indicated that Guessand was not doing enough to earn a place in the team, with other Palace players currently ahead of him in the manager’s thinking.
“It seems like Sage is already fed up with him, because it’s got to a point where he’s saying publicly, Guessand is not doing enough to prove he deserves to be in the team,” Brown said.
“There are probably four players in that Crystal Palace squad who are ahead of him now, and they might not be better players, but they’re doing more for the manager.”
With Sarr and Mateta still to return, Guessand’s route back into the team could become even more difficult. Brown said the forward would need to demonstrate that he deserved another opportunity or risk returning to Villa in January.
