Liverpool FC’s manager has issued an emotional statement after the team’s forward Diogo Jota was killed in a car crash alongside his brother.
Arne Slot said he 'has no words' to describe pain after Jota’s death, as he paid tribute to the 28-year-old as a “friend to everyone”.
The footballer had been travelling in a Lamborghini with his brother Andre Silva when the car veered off the road and burst into flames following what police suspect was a tyre blowout while overtaking.
The pair were found dead on the A-52 in Palacios de Sanabria near the city of Zamora at 12.40am on Thursday. The incident happened just 11 days after Jota, a father of three, married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, in Porto, Portugal.
According to BBC Sport, Jota was returning for pre-season training next week via ferry after being advised not to fly following minor surgery.
In a heartfelt tribute, Cristiano Ronaldo said the death of his Portugal teammate “doesn't make sense”. “We will all miss you,” he added.
Liverpool manager 'has no words' to describe pain after Jota’s death
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot insists everyone associated with the club owes it to Diogo Jota to “stand together and be there for one another”.
Slot said they were in “absolute shock” after the 28-year-old forward and his brother Andre Silva were killed in a car crash in Spain in the early hours of Thursday.
“What to say? What can anyone say at a time like this when the shock and the pain is so incredibly raw? I wish I had the words but I know I do not,” Slot said in a personal statement published on the club’s website.
“All I have are feelings that I know so many people will share about a person and a player we loved dearly and a family we care so much about.
“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 team-mate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special.
“We need everyone at the club to stand together and to be there for one another. We owe this to Diogo, to Andre Silva, to their wider family and to ourselves.”
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 18:54
A look at the brothers' football careers:
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.
Athena Stavrou 3 July 2025 18:44
Tributes pour in after Liverpool FC footballer Diogo Jota dies in car crash aged 28
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 18:28
Watch live: Fans gather at Anfield to mourn Diogo Jota after Liverpool footballer’s death
Live: Fans gather at Anfield to mourn Diogo Jota after Liverpool footballer’s death
Watch a live from Anfield in Liverpool as fans gather to mourn and pay tribute to footballer Diogo Jota, who was killed alongside his brother in a car crash in Spain on Thursday (3 July).
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 18:08
Pictured: Tributes laid by Wolves fans
Among the bunches of flowers, scarves, shirts and balloons left in memory of Diogo Jota outside Molineux was a wreath with a central printed tribute laid on behalf of Wolves as a club.
The card, bearing the club crest, read: “Diogo, your goals, desire, fight and hunger to win lit up Molineux.
“Your legacy will forever live on in the hearts of everyone at Wolves.
“In loving memory of Diogo and Andre. Rest peacefully.
“From everyone at the club, and the whole Wolves family.”
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 17:51
Wolves fans pay tribute to former player
Among Wolves fans paying tribute to and remembering Diogo Jota at Molineux was former season ticket holder Rita Meaden.
After laying down a bouquet of flowers at the foot of the ground’s Billy Wright statue, she said of Jota, who left Wolves in 2020: “Even when he left and went to Liverpool he was my favourite player. I just loved him.
“That year we were promoted he was fabulous. It’s heartbreaking for his family and everybody with his brother as well. It’s devastating.”
Current season ticket holder Ronan Gibbons, aged 26, also attended Molineux to pay his respects.
He said Jota and fellow Portuguese star Ruben Neves had “changed the way people viewed Wolves” in their time at the club.
“He just never stopped,” Mr Gibbons said of Jota. “He gave everything for a lad who had probably never even heard of Wolverhampton before he came here.”
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 17:37
What we know so far
If you’re just joining us, here’s a summary of what we know about Diogo Jota’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.
- Tributes are flooding in for the pair from vast numbers of former players, clubs, sporting figures, and footballing fans, who just months earlier witnessed Jota win his first Premier League title.
- In Liverpool, fans have gathered outside Anfield to lay tributes and mourn.
- Liverpool FC said the club is “devastated” at the “unimaginable loss” while the Portuguese Football Federation added: “We have lost two champions.”
- In a heartfelt tribute, Cristiano Ronaldo said the death of his Portugal teammate “doesn't make sense”. “We will all miss you,” he added.
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 17:12
Diogo Jota: The fan favourite who achieved more than he ever dreamed possible
The forward lifted trophies in his final games for both Liverpool and Portugal, writes Richard Jolly, two highlights of a career the little Portuguese dribbler never thought possible as a teenager who simply loved to play:
Diogo Jota: The fan favourite who achieved more than he ever dreamed possible
The forward lifted trophies in his final games for both Liverpool and Portugal, writes Richard Jolly, two highlights of a career the little Portuguese dribbler never thought possible as a teenager who simply loved to play
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 16:42
Shocked fans share Jota grief at Anfield
Shocked and grief-stricken Liverpool fans have flocked to the home of the Reds to lay flowers outside Anfield for their fallen hero Diogo Jota.
Fighting back tears, John Lynch, 64, from Liverpool, said: “I got the news this morning by text. Devastated. You know to lose a life so young but at Liverpool, we are all one, we’re family.
“And when something like this happens, it’s devastating. We were all looking forward to the new season.
“I’ve just been standing by the players’ entrance where the coach comes in, thinking, he will never go through there again.”
Mr Lynch said he expects fans from some of the Reds biggest rivals, Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City, to come to Anfield to lay flowers.
He added: “At time like this, football goes out the window. They’ll all turn up and pay their respects.”
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 16:23
Jota was driving to board ferry to UK - reports
Reports have claimed Diogo Jota was driving to board a ferry back to the UK before the fatal crash.
He was due to return to Liverpool for pre-season training which was set to begin on Monday.
But the footballer had been advised not to fly after having undergone minor surgery, the BBC reported.
It reported he was driving from Porto - where he had gotten married just days ago - to get a ferry from Santander in northern Spain.
The crash happened in Zamora, which is close to the Portuguese border around 190 miles from Porto.
Athena Stavrou3 July 2025 15:57
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