Konate opens up on depression after losing Jota and his father in the same season

Ibrahima Konate has revealed he battled depression for much of Liverpool’s 2024-25 season after losing teammate Diogo Jota and his own father within months of each other. The 27-year-old France defender, speaking to France Inter radio, described how grief consumed him and urged footballers to speak openly about mental health.

Jota and his brother André Silva died in a car crash in Spain last July. Konate, who lived near the Portuguese forward, said the loss hit him at a profound level. “It devastated me. I didn’t have any interest in anything else at that point,” he said. Months later, in January, his father Hamady passed away following a period of illness. Konate admitted he kept that grief private and now wishes he had not, saying his depression deepened as the season wore on.

“There are low points, there’s depression,” Konate said. “You can suffer from depression in football too; there’s no need to be ashamed to say so. It’s true that I’ve often heard players say they were suffering from depression and that fans or people on the outside didn’t understand because they were earning a lot of money. But no, that’s rubbish and you shouldn’t say that. Depression is personal; it’s deep inside you. When you’re depressed, it starts in the heart, goes up to the brain and takes over your whole body.”

The defender acknowledged that returning to the pitch was not a choice he could avoid. “You go back to football because you have no choice. We’re employees at a club that pays us every month, so we have duties. We had no choice but to go back on the field and play for him and his family — as well as ourselves. There’s no way of getting over it, but you learn to live with it.”

Liverpool’s season ended in significant disappointment. The club failed to defend the Premier League title and manager Arne Slot was subsequently sacked. While the squad never publicly cited the tragedies as an explanation for their underperformance, Konate’s account offers a rare and honest window into what the group endured privately across those months.

Konate is out of contract at Anfield and is reportedly in advanced talks over a move to Real Madrid, where he would reunite with former Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold. Fellow defender Andy Robertson also spoke about Jota on several occasions as his own time at the club drew to a close.

Konate’s willingness to describe his experience in detail — and to push back against the notion that wealth insulates footballers from mental suffering — adds a significant voice to an ongoing conversation about mental health in professional sport.