Juventus captain Danilo reveals he was ‘depressed’ and felt ‘useless’ in his first season at Real Madrid when he even thought about quitting football, but seeing a psychologist ‘saved’ his career.
Danilo opened up about his personal and professional life in an open letter published by The Players’ Tribune.
The Brazilian defender joined Juventus in the summer of 2019 from Manchester City but the first big move of his career came in 2015 when he moved to Real Madrid from Porto in a €31m deal.
However, it didn’t all go as planned for him in the Spanish capital.
Juventus captain Danilo wanted to quit football at Real Madrid: ‘I was depressed’
“During my first season at Real Madrid, I was depressed. I was lost, feeling useless. On the field, I couldn’t make a five-meter pass. Off the field, it was like I couldn’t even move,” the Juventus captain admitted.
“My passion for football disappeared, and I didn’t see a way out. I wanted to go back to my home in Brazil and never play football again.
“I wasn’t seeing myself as Baianinho, Baiano’s son (that’s what they call my dad). I was seeing myself as Danilo, the “31-million euro transfer” — the most expensive defender Real Madrid had ever bought at the time.
“When we played against Alavés a few months into the season, Theo Hernández stole the ball from me and crossed for Deyverson to score. We still won 4–1, but it was a mistake you can’t make at Real Madrid. I’ll never forget going home that night and not being able to sleep.
“I wrote in my journal: I think it’s time to quit football. I was 24 years old.”
The turning point for Danilo was seeking help and seeing a therapist.
“Which part of me was really feeling the pressure? The guy who had been a revelation as a right back at Porto? Or the boy from Bicas who suddenly signed with the biggest team in the world? The answer was clear. You will always be the boy inside.
“I didn’t tell anyone what I was feeling,” he continued.
“Casemiro tried to help me, but I “swallowed the frog,” as they say. And it kept getting bigger. But after a few months of suffering, I started seeing a psychologist, and he really saved my career. The most important lesson he taught me was to see the game through the eyes of a child again.
When you play football as a child, you never think too much, right? Your body and mind are in sync. Basically: you don’t care if you make mistakes. You just play. Suddenly, I stopped seeing myself as Danilo, the 31-million-euro transfer.
I started seeing myself as Danilo from Bicas, the boy who always locked my locker at América Mineiro because I kept a roll of toilet paper in there like it was ‘gold.’
Danilo on being captain at Juventus and Brazil
Danilo is one of Brazil’s most experienced players and will soon play in the Copa America with his national team.
“When I received the captain’s armband at Juventus, it was a great honour,” he admitted.
“But when I received the captain’s armband for Brazil, it was something entirely different. An immense, incomparable honour.
“When Dorival Júnior told me I would be the captain in the friendlies against England and Spain, I told myself: ‘No matter what happens in the next game or beyond, I can die happy.'”
Danilo played 197 games with Juventus scoring nine goals. He has won four trophies in Turin, including a Serie A title in 2019-20 and was named the Old Lady’s captain in 2023.