Liverpool have said Diogo Jota’s number 20 shirt will be “rightly immortalised” after the 28-year-old’s death in a car accident in Spain.
Jota was travelling with his brother, Andre Silva, when their car veered off the road and caught fire following what police suspect was a tyre blowout. They had been travelling to Santander ahead of a ferry crossing to the UK.
A tribute to the Portuguese on the Liverpool website called Jota a “respected and much-loved teammate“ both on and off the pitch, adding that “the No 20 will be rightly immortalised for his contributions”.
“What cruelly has proved to be his final flourish in football saw Jota become a Premier League champion and a UEFA Nations League winner,” said the statement.
“The No 20 will be rightly immortalised for his contributions as part of Liverpool’s 2024-25 title-winners – the club’s 20th – with his trademark shimmy and strike in front of the Kop to seal victory in April’s Merseyside derby a poignant last goal of his life,” it added.
Though the statement suggests the nature of the incident means that his number will be “immortalised”, it is unknown whether the club have any formal plans to retire the shirt, though some fans have called for that to happen.
Liverpool have never retired a number before, though other clubs have done so following similar incidents.
Following Liverpool’s title win, Jota remarked at the time: “To arrive at this particular season with the title that I’ve been chasing for a lot of years and in the best league in the world – for me where I dreamed to play as a kid – it’s a moment I will cherish forever.
“It is a remarkable achievement for a small guy that came from Gondomar, where I had this dream. To arrive at this moment was outstanding,” he said.
A vigil will be held at the Chapel of Resurrection in Gondomar, Jota and Silva's hometown on the outskirts of Porto, before the funeral takes place on Saturday, 5 July.
