Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he had been tracking Diogo Jota ever since seeing him play his first game for Wolves three years ago.
The Portuguese forward made the switch to Anfield in September and has been a revelation so far, scoring nine goals in 14 games for the Reds so far.
The 23-year-old's signing came after he impressed during his three seasons at Molineux following his move to England from Atletico Madrid in 2017.
And speaking in an interview with UEFA's official website, Klopp admitted he has been following the player's fortunes for some time.
“Diogo, I liked, honestly, from the first game I saw him playing for Wolves. That's how it is," Klopp said.
“He had no idea about that, obviously, but for me it was always clear that when he was kind of in reach, I would go for him because he's very, very interesting and had an exciting career so far: what he did, where he's come from, the moves he made, bam bam bam.
“I liked the discipline he showed, plus the creativity he showed, plus the desire he showed. And his skills are pretty good anyway, so I got a lot of good signs before we signed him that it could work out.”
Despite many suggesting Jota would largely be a back-up for the likes of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane at Liverpool, he has already firmly established himself as a crucial part of the first-team, and has started four of the Reds' last five games in all competitions.
It remains to be seen if he is part of Klopp's 11 for the Champions League game against Ajax on Tuesday, where a win would guarantee them a place in the knockout stages.
