Liverpool star Konate opens up on depression after two tragedies – ‘I didn’t have any interest in anything’ | OneFootball

Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate has opened up on how the deaths of Diogo Jota and his father “devastated” him and meant he “didn’t have any interest in anything else”.

Konate, who is set to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the month, endured a difficult season on the pitch as the Reds only managed a fifth-placed finish in defence of the Premier League title.

The centre-back was used as a scapegoat by fans and pundits for much of the campaign and has now revealed he was suffering with depression as the tragic death of teammate and neighbour, Jota, was quickly followed by the passing of his father, Hamady.

Addressing the stigma surrounding mental health problems in football, Konate told the Independent: “There are low points, there’s depression. 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. For me, that’s what’s hard, and we need to talk about it.”

Konate revealed the impact of the car crash which took Jota’s life and that of his brother, Andre, just before the start of pre-season.

“It devastated me. I didn’t have any interest in anything else at that point,” Konate admitted.

“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.”

‘I didn’t know what to do’

While the squad mourned Jota, Konate’s father was fighting a severe illness before passing away in January.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Konate said. “I didn’t know whether I should go home and stop playing, because the team needed me too.

“I didn’t know who to talk to about it, so I kept it all to myself. And this is the advice I’d give to everyone: when you’re feeling down or something’s going on, you need to talk to those around you. It can help you and do you good. I didn’t talk about it and kept it to myself.

“The doctors then told us he didn’t have long to live, but we didn’t know it would happen so quickly.

“There was never a moment when I felt like I was on the mend. All of these tragic events happened so quickly and as soon as I felt like I was getting my head above water, something else happened.

“I also had to learn how to get back on my feet on my own because the team needed me more than ever and I know that my father would have wanted me to get back.”