Ibrahima Konate, 27, opened up about suffering from depression during his final season at Liverpool after losing teammate Diogo Jota and Jota’s brother Andre Silva in a July 2025 car crash, and the death of his father Hamady in January 2026 following a long illness [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Konate described depression as a deeply personal condition affecting both heart and brain, stressing there is no shame in admitting mental health struggles in football. "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," he said [1]. He added that the idea players cannot suffer depression due to their earnings is "rubbish" [2].
Konate recounted the emotional toll the events took on him. "It devastated me. I didn't have any interest in anything else at that point," he said, revealing he kept his feelings to himself. "I didn't know what to do. 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," he added [3]. He said the tragedies happened so quickly there was "never a moment when I felt like I was on the mend" [4].
Despite the emotional strain, Konate returned early from compassionate leave in January 2026 to help Liverpool during an injury crisis. "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," he said [5] [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Konate admitted he did not fully recover from the emotional toll before the season ended [2, 3, 4]. He confirmed in early June 2026 that he will leave Liverpool during the summer transfer window. Reports have linked him to Real Madrid [1, 2, 3, 5].
Konate, capped 27 times by France, is included in Didier Deschamps’ 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup [2, 4].
