Diogo Jota death latest: Liverpool manager Slot says footballer was ‘friend to everyone’ after fatal car crash – UK Times

Jota scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for Liverpool, with nine coming last season as Arne Slot’s side won the Premier League title, having previously lifted the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

He signed for Wolves, initially on loan, from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2017 and helped win the Championship in his first season, scoring 44 goals in 131 appearances before moving to Anfield.

Jota’s career began at Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira before moving to Atletico, where he did not play a game but was loaned out to Porto.

His brother spent time in Porto’s youth team before playing senior football for Gondomar and second-tier side Penafiel.

“The loss of two young lives linked to the world of football fills us with pain and consternation,” read a Penafiel statement.

Liverpool FC has opened physical and digital books of condolence in the wake of the deaths of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva.

Supporters and members of the public can go to the Anfield Road Stand reception area over the coming days to sign a message.

The online book can be found at https://www.liverpoolfc.com/club/diogo-jota-supporter-condolences.

Diogo Jota married his long term partner Rute Cardoso on June 22 in Portugal.

The pair have been together since 2013 and have three children together – two sons and a daughter who was born in November.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a summary of what we know about Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silver’s death so far:

• Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silver were driving from Porto to board a ferry to the UK.
• At around 12:30am local time the brothers crashed on the A-52 in Palacios de Sanabria near the city of Zamora in Spain.
• Spain’s Guardia Civil said this could have been due to a tyre blowout while overtaking another car.
• The Lamborghini they were in then set on fire.
• The 28-year-old was reportedly told not to fly from Portugal back to Liverpool for pre-season training after undergoing minor surgery, the BBC reported.
• The incident happened just 11 days after Jota, a father of three, married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, in Porto, Portugal.