Former Real Madrid and Manchester City player Danilo raises concerns about mental health on footballers

Danilo, 33-year-old Brazilian player, has reflected on his fruitful career in a long interview with The Guardian, where he praised Pep Guardiola as the most influential figures in his career - "he educates players. If I had met him before, he would have made my life a lot easier", and said that he suffered a lot of pressure while playing at Real Madrid.

The centre-back has had a very successful career, playing all across Europe: Porto, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Juventus, winning trophies in all of them, including two Champions League, two Premier League titles, and one Serie A. After six years at Juventus, he chose to leave the club on January 2025 and moved to Flamengo, a return to Brazil for what will likely be the end of his career, as he doesn't want to keep playing until he's 40, and plans to study psychology when he hangs up the boots.

Danilo is very critical about social media: "No matter how mature you are, you want to be accepted. And social media is a toxic environment on all levels" and even regrets buying an expensive car in his early 20s to "fit in" with the rest of players, due to the social pressure. He seems surprisingly mature now for a top footballer, raising questions about mental health among footballers that nobody seems to ask.

Part of the reason he wants to study a degree after playing football, something almost unheard of on footballers, is the pressure he had while on Real Madrid, where he endured a lot of criticism and pressure due to not feeling like he was matching the investment made on him. "I suffered a lot to the point of seeking psychological help. There were times when it seemed like I couldn't remember how to play football any more".

He described himself as "hostage to criticism, to social media" and complained about the lack of mental health care in football clubs ("they don't care about the human being, we need to humanise football more"), which is one of the reasons why a lot of young, talented players don't find success in their careers, succumbing to the pressure: "I'm going to put it very bluntly: the clubs will only do something when they realise the financial damage they are being hit by. When clubs realise how many players they're losing due to emotional and psychological problems, they'll think twice and start investing because that's technical and financial value for the team."

In fact, in 2020, during the pandemic, Danilo created a project called "Voz Futura" to inspire debate and offer emotional support to anyone. However, his present is still on the pitch, and with his return to Brazil he hopes to "get closer to the Brazilian people, to the fans" and hopefully get a spot in World Cup 2026.