Laurent Koscielny won’t play any part for France in the World Cup this summer, after the defender suffered an injured against Atletico Madrid on Thursday.

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The defender had to be taken off on a stretcher, seemingly in agony, only minutes into the Europa League semi-final second leg. Now the French Football Federation say the injury will keep him out of this summer’s tournament.

Manager Didier Deschamps admitted the news is a massive problem for them.

“It’s a very big blow for the France team,” he said. “I am really very sad for Laurent, because this World Cup was also a very important moment for him in his career and I wish him a lot of strength in his comeback, because I’m sure he still has some great things to come.”

The manager also confirmed this was supposed to be Koscielny’s final international participation. The defender planned to retire from playing for his country after the competition ended.

Koscielny has had injury problems all season, forcing him out of the team on multiple occasions. He missed key matches against Chelsea in January, as well as the FA Cup elimination to Nottingham Forest. He had to come off after 11 minutes against AC Milan, and then the same against Atletico Madrid.

When the fixture list got busy he could only play one game a week, unlike many of his teammates.

We all hope he’ll come back to full fitness and continue to prove himself at the top level, or at least make a positive addition to the squad. The fact is Arsenal just can’t rely on him anymore, and need to sign someone to take over the reins.

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