The young Frenchman has been given the tall order of replacing Dani Alves
Born in Marseille in 1984, Abdoulay Konko climbed through the youth ranks at Genoa, before moving to play for the Juventus youth team in 2002. After a lack of involvement in the Juve first team, Konko was sent on loan to CF Crotone, a Calabrian team in the third tier of Italian football. While gaining invaluable experience, Konko made an indelible impact during his 77 appearances and secured a move to Serie A club AC Siena.
Looking to enhance their attack with Konko’s free-flowing skill and versatility, Siena employed him as a striker, which proved an unmitigated disaster; Konko failed to notch more than a single goal during the 2006-07 season. Returning to his roots at Genoa in January 2007, he played a predominantly midfield role in their 2007-08 Serie A campaign.
Skilful with the ball at his feet and a physical battler often utilised in the midfield area, Konko was signed by Sevilla in the summer of 2008 to replace attacking full-back Daniel Alves, who was sold to Barcelona.