Two clubs, two finals, two medals: the surreal season of Evann Guessand

By Angu Lesley 

Football Writer,kick442.com-Cameroon

Football has always had a habit of producing stories so strange they sound invented. A deflection in stoppage time. A substitute becoming immortal with a single touch. A club rising from obscurity to continental glory. But even by modern football’s standards, the season lived by Evann Guessand belongs in its own category.

It began quietly enough, with the Ivorian forward attached to Aston Villa and part of their European campaign in the UEFA Europa League. Like many young players navigating elite football, Guessand’s role was uncertain — somewhere between promise and opportunity, between the fringes and the breakthrough.

Then January arrived, and with it a move that appeared routine on paper. He joined Crystal Palace. What followed transformed an ordinary transfer into one of the most remarkable quirks European football has seen in years.

Villa continued their charge in the Europa League while Palace surged through the UEFA Conference League. By the end of the season, both clubs had climbed to the summit of their respective competitions. One player. Two teams. Two European trophies.

The absurdity of it almost demands a double take. Guessand effectively became connected to two separate continental triumphs in the same campaign, collecting winners’ medals from both journeys after representing one club before moving to another midway through the season.

In an era where football is analysed down to data points and algorithms, this was the sport rediscovering its chaos. No predictive model could have reasonably forecast it. No scriptwriter would dare make it sound so outrageous. And yet, there it is: Europa League winner and Conference League winner in the same season.

For Côte d’Ivoire, the story adds another chapter to a remarkable period for Ivorian football following their unforgettable continental success at AFCON. A generation of players continues to find itself at the centre of improbable moments, and Guessand’s season may be among the strangest of them all.

There is also something beautifully symbolic about it. Modern footballers often speak about timing — being in the right club, under the right coach, at the right moment. Guessand somehow managed to be in two right places at once.

Supporters online have jokingly labelled him football’s luckiest man. But luck alone does not place a player inside two winning dressing rooms in a single European season. It still requires talent, trust and the courage to embrace uncertainty midway through a campaign.

What makes the story resonate is that it feels almost impossible without actually being impossible. UEFA regulations, transfer windows and squad eligibility rules combined to create a tiny opening through which Guessand walked straight into football folklore.

Years from now, supporters may forget the tactical details of those finals. They may struggle to remember who scored or who dominated possession. But they will remember this: the footballer who started one European adventure with Aston Villa, finished another with Crystal Palace, and somehow ended the same season celebrating twice on two different continental stages.

Football should not really work like this. Which is precisely why people love it.