Konate opens up on depression following deaths of teammate Jota and father

The football world was shocked last July when Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, died in a car crash. 

This tragedy was compounded for Konate when his father, Hamady, passed away in January after a prolonged illness.

The French international, whose form was noticeably affected during his last campaign at Anfield, detailed the immense personal turmoil he endured.

Konate, who left Liverpool on a free transfer and is close to joining Real Madrid, described the shattering impact of losing Jota and his father

"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," Konate told France Inter radio. 

"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."

He added: "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."

Still speaking Konate said, "It devastated me. I didn't have any interest in anything else at that point," he explained. "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."

While grieving for his teammate, Konate was also carrying the heavy burden of his father's deteriorating health.

"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," he recalled. 

"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," he continued. "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."

Despite the immense personal strain, Konate returned early from compassionate leave to support Liverpool during an injury crisis.