Koné's Season Over After Injury

The forward endured a difficult first season with Sevilla last year, leading many to expect that he'd begin the new campaign with something to prove. Now it remains to be seen whether or not he'll even play at all.Just ten minutes into the Ivory Coast's friendly match with Guinea the ex-PSV Eindhoven forward had to be taken off with what was later suspected to be both ligament and cartilage damage.This was confirmed later at a hospital in Paris, France, as being a case of the much-feared "triad" injury of ligament, cartilage and meniscus damage.Sevilal club doctors are carrying out further exploration on the player's knee to confirm the initial diagnosis; afterwards they will plan a period of operation and recovery. For now it seems unlikely that Koné will re-appear on a football pitch until the very end of next season.As such Sevilla are without one of their top three forwards for their UEFA Cup and Liga campaigns, while the Elephants are bereft of a key striker.