Espanyol midfielder Sergi Darder has opened up on his recent struggles with mental health and urged footballers to seek help and open up, during a recent interview.
The advice comes after the 28-year-old admitted back in February that he was "not in a good place" despite his success on the football field, in which he has worked his way to captain of La Liga side Espanyol.
Darder had claimed that the pressures of his footballing career were negatively affecting him and led to a downturn in his mental health, which prompted him to open up to family and colleagues.
The Spaniard has now opened up further on his struggles and praised his club and teammate Diego Lopez for helping him through a troubling time.
Speaking in a recent interview, Darder said: "I had to re-evaluate the way I felt, because I did not feel that great, but fortunately there were players who were able to help me a lot.
"Diego was one of the players in the squad who really helped me. Sometimes it is a question of being honest with yourself and if you do not feel like you are able to perform at the level the club deserves, you need to address things.
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"I did not feel that I was able to help the team sufficiently at that time but with help not only from specialists – in this case the psychologists who provided me with guidelines about how I could change my mindset – but also from relatives, friends, my wife, children and my teammates – particularly Diego.
"He helped me with so many things given his experience across so many clubs. It is always a good idea to listen to what these people have to say.
"The two main people who helped me were Diego and the coach, they helped me to get through this and everyone can help in different ways. Diego was a big help on a personal level and the coach more on a professional level.
"This meant I was able to improve my performances. It is important to listen to other people with other experiences is very important, even if you do not know them."
After initially coming through the academy at the Catalan side, Darder left the club in 2012, before returning on a loan spell in 2017, and on a permanent deal in 2018 for around £7m from Lyon, and has gone on to make 177 appearances for the first team across all competitions so far.
Matthew Tranter
