Klopp 'heartbroken' by Diogo Jota's death
Klopp, who is Red Bull's "head of global soccer", persuaded the Liverpool board to pay £45 million ($62 million) for Diogo Jota after he impressed at Wolves.
"This is a moment where I struggle!" Klopp posted on Instagram.
"There must be a bigger purpose! But I can't see it! I'm heartbroken to hear about the passing of Diogo and his brother Andre.
"Diogo was a not only a fantastic player, but also a great friend, a loving and caring husband and father!
"We will miss you so much! All my prayers, thoughts and power to Rute, the kids, the family, the friends and everyone who loved them! Rest in peace -- Love."
Diogo Jota was labelled an "exceptional player, exceptional boy," by Klopp early on in the player's spell at Liverpool.
Jota took little time to deliver some return on Liverpool's investment, becoming the first player in the club's history to score in his first four home games.
He was a key part of Klopp's side that won the League Cup and FA Cup in 2021/22, narrowly missing out on the Premier League and Champions League for what would have been an unprecedented quadruple.
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France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Portugal and football world mourn Liverpool forward Diogo Jota
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro joined members of Diogo Jota's family for a private wake on Friday in the Liverpool footballer's hometown in northern Portugal following his death alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car crash in Spain. Jota's longtime agent Jorge Mendes was also seen joining the family that included wife Rute Cardoso, who had married the footballer just weeks earlier. Montenegro spent almost half an hour with the family before leaving without making a statement. A convoy of hearses carrying the bodies left for Gondomar near Porto on Thursday evening from the morgue of Puebla de Sanabria, near where the Lamborghini the brothers were traveling in had veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tyre had burst. A public wake is expected to take place at a chapel in Gondomar from 4pm (15:00 GMT) and a funeral on Saturday at a church nearby at 10am local time, the office of Gondomar's mayor said. A truly 'wonderful, loving' soul: Diogo Jota's 'immense' impact on Liverpool remembered 10:43 The death of forward Jota at the age of 28 has jolted the world of football, with messages of homage pouring in from former teammates, clubs, national leaders and fans. Outside Liverpool's Anfield stadium fans left flowers, scarves and handwritten notes, many from children. "I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the (summer) break," Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah said on Instagram. "Teammates come and go but not like this. It's going to be extremely difficult to accept that Diogo won't be there when we go back," he added. Football clubs including Paris St Germain, who have several Portugal internationals in their squad, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid observed a moment of silence during training for their matches at the Club World Cup in the United States. Mourning his friend Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on Thursday that forward Pedro Neto was weighing whether to play in Friday's quarter-final against Palmeiras, as the Portuguese international mourns the tragic death of his close friend. Jota's manager at Liverpool, Arne Slot, said in a statement on Thursday that his thoughts were with his family. 'You'll never walk alone': Football world mourns Diogo Jota 06:58 "My message to them is very clear – you will never walk alone," Slot said, using the words of the team's anthem. "For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player. He was a loved one to all of us. He was a teammate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special," the Dutchman added. In Gondomar, a town of about 160,000 people in the Porto metropolitan area that is known for artisanal gold and filigree jewelry, residents were struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of a local hero. At the Diogo Jota Academy in Gondomar – whose motto is "It's not important where we come from, but where we are going" – people placed candles, flowers and scarves and shirts from the various clubs he played for and from the Portuguese national team in tribute to the player. Jota opened the academy in 2022 for children aged 6-9 at the Gondomar Football Club where he himself played for 10 years as a child. It was at Gondomar's high school that he met his wife. They began dating aged 15 when in the same class and she became a pillar in his life. When they were 19, they moved to Madrid together, when Jota was transferred from the small Portuguese club Pacos de Ferreira to Atletico Madrid. "Besides being his girlfriend and best friend, I'm his number one fan," Cardoso told the newspaper 'A Bola' at the time. Jota was making his way back to Liverpool by car after he was told he should avoid plane travel for up to 6 weeks following lung surgery to address a fractured rib, his physiotherapist Miguel Goncalves told broadcaster Now late on Thursday. Goncalves said Jota was recovering well from the pneumothorax surgery and that he had planned to take a ferry to the UK from Spain.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Dozens pay tribute to Liverpool star Diogo Jota in Portugal
Jota, 28, and Andre Silva, 25, were killed on Thursday after their vehicle veered off a motorway in northwestern Spain and became engulfed in flames, just after the Portugal forward had got married. A wake for the siblings was organised at a chapel in the Porto suburb of Gondomar on Friday before the funeral scheduled for 10:00 am (0900 GMT) on Saturday. Close family and friends including the parents paid their respects first, with the grandfather propped up by two others to help him enter. Mourners arrived carrying wreaths of flowers, some sobbing audibly, before the wake was opened to members of the public. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, Jota's agent Jorge Mendes and Porto club president Andre Villas-Boas were among the notable attendees paying condolences. "Football is truly in mourning. Diogo was an icon of the talent Portuguese football represents," said football federation chief Pedro Proenca. At the Diogo Jota football academy, close to Gondomar SC where the ex-Porto and Atletico Madrid player took his first steps in the game, well-wishers created a memorial with flowers, scarves, candles and shirts. "Thank you, Diogo Jota," read a child's handwritten message, while mourners stood in silent contemplation. Francisco Goncalves, a 66-year-old judicial officer, was still coming to terms with what he called a "senseless disaster... no one understands what happened". 'Left us too young' Pedro Neves, who was friends with Jota at school in Gondomar, said he "will remember him as someone who was very friendly, very courteous, who loved everyone, who always had a smile on his face". "He left us too young, it's not fair. But that's how life is sometimes," Neves, 31, told AFP. At Porto's Estadio do Dragao, flags flew at half-mast and a photograph of Jota smiling and wearing the club's shirt was projected on a big screen. Liverpool have opened a book of condolences and lowered flags to half-mast, with dozens of supporters laying a sea of flowers, balloons and Jota shirts outside Anfield. A similar shrine was set up at the Molineux ground of his former Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. UK media reported Liverpool had postponed the start of pre-season training, while the reigning English champions confirmed ticket sales for a July 13 friendly had been suspended. In London, Wimbledon relaxed its strict white-only dress code to allow Portuguese tennis player Francisco Cabral to wear a black ribbon in tribute to Jota. © 2025 AFP
Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
Family mourns Portugal's Diogo Jota and brother ahead of funeral
Family and friends of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva gathered on Friday at a church where their bodies had been brought for a wake and funeral, after the Portuguese football players were killed in a car crash in Spain. Some hugged and wept before entering the Capela da Ressurreição São Cosme, where the funeral for the siblings is planned to take place on Saturday. Jota, 28, and his 25-year-old brother were found dead near Zamora in northwestern Spain after the Lamborghini they were in crashed on an isolated stretch of highway just after midnight on Thursday and burst into flames. Their bodies were repatriated to Portugal after being identified by the family, Spanish government officials said. Jota and his parents both have homes in Gondomar, where he started his playing career as a child. Gondomar is a working-class town next to Porto, where Jota was born. Jota's death occurred two weeks after he married long-time partner Rute Cardoso while on vacation from a long season where he helped Liverpool win the Premier League title. The couple had three children, the youngest born last year. Spanish police are investigating the cause of the crash, which did not involve another vehicle, they said. His brother Silva played with Portuguese club Penafiel in the lower divisions. Condolences poured in from Portuguese officials and the world of football as news of the accident spread. Liverpool fans laid flower wreaths and team scarves outside Anfield stadium, while a moment of silence was held before Portugal played Spain at the Women's European Championship in Switzerland. The loss was felt sharply in his hometown, especially at his first football club, where Jota started playing at age nine. "He never forgot his roots, nor his friends, because he had a group of friends who were with him in the training here in Gondomar and who he even invited from time to time to go and watch Liverpool games in England," Gondomar SC director Anselmo Serra said. "They were like a group of friends that he never forgot over the years."
