Sekou Kone suffers brutal treatment again in first start for loan club
Man United midfielder Sekou Kone has struggled during his loan spell in Switzerland for Ineos-owned Lausanne-Sport
Man United’s Sekou Kone has not had the desired impact at Lausanne-Sport(Image: PA)
Manchester United midfielder Sekou Kone endured a nightmare outing on loan at Ineos-owned Lausanne-Sport on Sunday. The 20-year-old made his first start for the Swiss side in their 2-1 defeat to Basel, but was substituted at half-time.
It comes after his omission from Lausanne’s Conference League squad. The United youngster has been denied the opportunity to feature in the European competition after not being named in their UEFA squad, as Lausanne were allowed to register a maximum of three new players after the January transfer window.
Kone spent the winter training with Lausanne before completing a transfer in January, signing on loan until the end of the season. But he has struggled to make an impact at the Swiss Super League side – making his first start on Sunday.
And his appearance against fourth-placed Basel could not have gone much worse. He spent 45 minutes on the pitch playing as a wide midfielder on the left flank, but was ineffective before being taken off at the interval.
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The midfielder is in Switzerland to gain more first-team experience. He sustained a fractured eye socket in August while playing for United’s Under-21 side against Tamworth, which sidelined him until November.
This injury setback also prevented Kone from making any appearances in United’s first-team squads during the first half of the season.
In contrast to Kone, fellow United loanee Enzo Kana-Biyik has been included in the club’s Conference League squad. The striker was immediately loaned out to Lausanne from United in the summer after finalising a transfer from Le Harve.
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Discussing Kone with the MEN last November following a match against Huddersfield Town’s senior squad, coach Travis Binnion said: “He’s a high potential player, there’s no doubt about that. His games to this point have been 20 minutes at Sunderland in a game we were poor in, 45 minutes in a game where we were completely dominant in Under-19s.
“To have his third game and his first start tonight, at that level, I thought for 20 minutes he was excellent. Then they get a little bit of pressure on him, it gets a little bit harder, it just shows he is learning where he’s at and it’s no problem.
“He’s shown more than enough in the three games to suggest that with time and with work he’s got a real chance of being a really good player, but it’s a high potential Under-21s player with first-team potential, I don’t think we can get too ahead of ourselves.
“He’s come off injured tonight so will have to see the severity of that. He needs to get fit, stay fit, get a run of training and games and then we’ll where he’s at.
“It’s just playing games, seeing pre-match and post-match sessions, analysis, translating them. You can see he can play the game and he’s got real ability, it’s just a run now and consistency and letting him learn and develop at his own rate.”
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