Ibrahima Konate has spoken candidly about battling depression during his final season at Liverpool FC, revealing that the deaths of team-mate Diogo Jota and his own father, Hamady, left him struggling to function both on and off the pitch.

Jota and his brother Andre Silva were killed in a car crash last July. Konate's father passed away in January following a prolonged illness. The two losses arrived within months of each other, and the France international says the combined grief was overwhelming.

"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. "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."

The 27-year-old centre-back described Jota's death as particularly shattering, noting that the Portugal forward had also been his neighbour on Merseyside. "It devastated me. I didn't have any interest in anything else at that point," he said. "You go back to football because you have no choice. 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."

Konate also described the anguish of watching his father's health deteriorate while still fulfilling his duties to the club. "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 said. "I didn't know who to talk to about it, so I kept it all to myself."

He has since drawn a lesson from that silence. "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."

Konate returned early from compassionate leave in late January to help Liverpool FC through an injury crisis, and went on to make 51 appearances — 49 as a starter — across the 2025–26 campaign. Despite his efforts, he could not consistently reach the heights of his previous four seasons, and Liverpool FC finished fifth in the Premier League.

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

He credited the support of Liverpool FC's fanbase, his team-mates, and his family, while also acknowledging that ultimately the responsibility to recover fell on him. "I know that my father would have wanted me to get back," he said.

Konate, capped 27 times by France, is included in Didier Deschamps' 26-man squad for the World Cup. He is also closing in on a transfer to Real Madrid following the confirmation of his departure from Anfield last week.