Spanish police suspect Diogo Jota was driving over the speed limit when he and his brother were killed in a car crash last week.
The 28-year-old Liverpool and Portugal forward died with his 25-year-old brother André Silva when the Lamborghini in which they were travelling careered off a road in the province of Zamora last Thursday.
Spain’s Civil Guard said on Tuesday that while its investigation into the accident was not complete, it believed the car was being driven at more than the 120km/h (75mph) speed limit when it had a suspected tyre blowout.
For the first time since the crash, which happened 11 days after Jota married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, the police also said they believed the Liverpool player was driving the car.
A spokesperson for the Civil Guard said: “The expert report is being carried out and finished, where among other things they are studying the marks left by one of the wheels of the vehicle. Everything also points to a possible high excess of speed over the permitted speed of the road. All the tests carried out for the moment point to the fact that the driver of the vehicle was Diogo Jota.”
The report will be handed to the court in Puebla de Sanabria, Zamora, when the investigation is completed.
Jota and Silva died when the car left the A52 in north-west Spain and burst into flames. They are believed to have been heading to the northern Spanish port of Santander to take a ferry to England before Jota’s return to Liverpool for pre-season training, having been advised not to fly after Jota had a recent lung procedure. The brothers were buried in their home city of Gondomar near Porto on Saturday.
Jota’s Liverpool teammates, most of whom attended the funeral, began reporting back for pre-season training on Tuesday. Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, who posted emotional tributes to their friend, were among the contingent who arrived at the Axa Training Centre for pre-season tests along with the new signing Jeremie Frimpong. Tributes to Jota were left near the players’ entrance to the training ground.
Liverpool delayed the start of pre-season after Jota’s death and the full squad is not expected back until Thursday. The Premier League champions are scheduled to play their first friendly at Preston on Sunday.
