Inter wing-back Robin Gosens is celebrating after receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, culminating a four-year journey parallel with his career in football. ‘Mental health isn’t just important in football, but remains a taboo in society.’
The Germany international has always had a passion for learning and understanding more about the mind, which has proved useful also in his time preparing for games and dealing with a long period where he was dropped to the bench by Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
“Finally, after four years of hard work, finally I got it: Bachelor of Science in Psychology,” wrote Gosens on Instagram with a picture of his diploma.
“It was a long road that cost me a lot of strength and energy, because of course football and my family take the main roles in my life. In the last academic year, our son was born – the greatest gift on earth – but that didn’t exactly lead to me having more time to study.
“I would just like to say two things:
“Dreams are worth it, so dream on and let those dreams drive you. Nobody says they have to come true by themselves, it’s always a hard slog, but it’s worth it.
“The other is that mental health is not just important in football, but remains too big a taboo in society!! You can only function as a human being if your mind is free. So, if it is not, you should ask for help. This is a sign of real strength. Those who don’t understand that are the opposite: they are weak!”
The 28-year-old was born in Germany and also has Dutch citizenship, but opted to play his international football for Die Mannschaft.
He came to Italy for Atalanta in 2017 and was sold to Inter for €27.4m in January 2022.
So far this season, Gosens has made 33 competitive appearances for the Nerazzurri, scoring two goals.
The wing-back had also spoken about his study of psychology earlier in the year, explaining what fascinated him about the process and how he could apply it to his career.
“When your mind is in the right place, performances on the field become much easier. When you are worried, even for things that have nothing to do with football, your performances suffer. I wanted to understand what fuels that.”