Konate opens up on depression following Jota's death

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Martin Macdonald | Writer

Content writer covering football, formula 1 and movies

Ibrahima Konate has opened up about the depression he suffered during his final season at Liverpool.

The Reds, as a whole, were disappointing in 2025/26 and failed to defend their Premier League title, eventually finishing fifth, though still qualifying for the Champions League.

Konate was one of the players who suffered most from poor performances as an individual, too, and he was regularly the target for criticism from fans and pundits.

Liverpool's season was derailed before it even began after the tragic death of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car accident in Spain in the summer. There was an outpouring of grief at Anfield and the player's passing undoubtedly had an impact on the squad, judging by comments from numerous team-mates, including his close friend, Andy Robertson.

Konate had to contend with that, and also the death of his father, who passed away in January after a long illness.

"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 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.

"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."

Jota was one of Konate's neighbours in Merseyside and he spoke about the effect the Portuguese's passing had on him.

"It devastated me. I didn't have any interest in anything else at that point," he added.

"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."

Throughout the season, the defender was dealing with family issues behind the scenes, as his father's health worsened.

"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 confessed.

"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."

The Frenchman was given compassionate leave after his father's death but returned early as Liverpool had an injury crisis in the centre of defence, with he and Virgil van Dijk playing pretty much every match this season.

"There was never a moment when I felt like I was on the mend," he added.

"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 had the support of all these fans, who are exceptional at Liverpool, my team-mates and especially my family but 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."

Konate's contract with Liverpool expires at the end of June and it has already been confirmed that he will leave the club after an agreement could not be reached over wages.

It is widely expected that he will sign for Real Madrid as a free agent.