Diogo Jota, 1996-2025: A life taken too soon | OneFootball

There is a hauntingly cruel irony in Diogo Jota dying at a time when things could hardly have been going better for the Liverpool star.

The 28-year-old’s most recent Instagram posts show a man enjoying not just the best moments of his career, but his entire life.

There’s photos of the Portuguese forward celebrating the Premier League title win with his teammates. Of him holding the UEFA Nations League trophy following victory over Spain with his national team. And of his wedding day.

Jota and his fiancé, Rute Cardoso, got married just 11 days before he and his brother, Andre Silva, perished in a car crash in northwestern Spain. He was on his way to catch a ferry back to England ahead of pre-season training.

His last post, published just hours before he passed away, showed highlights of their special day. The caption read: “A day we will never forget”. He leaves behind three children, the youngest of which was born only in November.

It puts into stark relief how fragile life can be and how, in the grand scheme of things, football is not all that important. And yet, it was through football that he touched so many lives and brought so much joy to people who he would never meet or ever know.

Diogo Jota, 1996-2025: A life taken too soon

Funnily enough, the bio on Jota’s Instagram account doesn’t refer to him as a footballer at all, but a gamer. He was an avid video game fan who owned an esports team. He even beat Trent Alexander-Arnold to win the FIFA 20 ePremier League for Wolves.

Jota’s professional career had humble beginnings, starting at Paços de Ferreira, a club whose stadium fits just over 9,000 spectators and currently plays in the second tier. His cleverness as a player and a person was evident from a young age; born Diogo Silva, he decided to go by the name Diogo Jota in order to stand out from all the Diogo’s and Silva’s in the Portuguese youth system. (‘Jota’ literally means ‘J’ in Portuguese).

He left the Beavers in 2016 to join Atletico Madrid, although he never made a senior appearance for the LaLiga club. Instead he was sent on consecutive loans, first to hometown team FC Porto, where Andre was playing, and then to Wolves.

Little was known about the diminutive attacker when he rocked up at Molineux, but that initial loan spell was the beginning of a love affair between him and the supporters. After scoring 17 goals to help the club win promotion to the Premier League, he was signed on a permanent basis.

Read – Arne Slot pays emotional tribute to ‘special’ Diogo Jota

A clinical finisher with a burst of pace and terrific ability with the ball at his feet, Jota would go on to be a key player for Wanderers as they clinched back-to-back seventh-placed finishes, qualifying for Europe in the process. His numbers were by no means mind-blowing, scoring nine and seven goals in those league campaigns, but Liverpool were attracted by his characteristics; an immense work-rate, the ability to link play and create openings for his teammates, and a powerful shot that rarely missed the target.

The £41 million transfer was nonetheless a bit of a surprise, but Klopp called it the “perfect signing”, while Jota said it was “the right club” for him. Both statements were proven right in so many ways.

He hit the ground running, scoring his first goal nine days after the move. Unfortunately, he was sidelined for several months by injury, which would become a recurring theme during his time on Merseyside.

The Anfield faithful, though, got to see him at his zenith in his second season, when he cemented his status as a fan favourite.

With Sadio Mane gone, Jota’s importance to the attack increased and it was reflected in his goal contributions, finding the net 21 times and providing six assists in all competitions as Liverpool chased an unprecedented quadruple. Although they just missed out on the Premier League title and Champions League, Jota played a crucial role in winning a domestic cup double.

In a team full of exceptional talents, Jota became a fan favourite. A catchy chant celebrating their Portuguese hero followed suit, one we heard ringing outside Anfield on Thursday and will no doubt be sang in the stands for years and years to come.

A contract extension was a just reward for his performances, but he was unable to build on a career-best campaign due to recurring injuries. Still, he managed to score 12 goals in all competitions in 2022/23.

The following year Jota did show he could lead Klopp’s attack while Mo Salah was away at the African Cup of Nations, scoring five goals and assisting two more in the Egyptian’s absence. Unfortunately, he suffered two injury setbacks in the second half of the season, causing him to miss the League Cup final win over Chelsea.

Arne Slot’s arrival saw Jota move into the no.9 role and he fit like a glove, scoring the first goal of the 2024/25 campaign. His ability to both attack the box and drop deep to act like a false nine was incredibly useful, but once again fitness issues arose, limiting him to 22 appearances in all competitions.

Fortunately for Liverpool, they were able to fade his absences very well on the way to claiming a 20th top-flight title. After years and years of climbing his way up the football ladder, Jota had finally reached the pinnacle of the English game.

Fittingly, his final goal for the Reds was a typically brilliant finish to win the Merseyside Derby in April. He nimbly navigated his way through the box, dancing around the Everton defenders before firing the ball past Jordan Pickford with power and cold accuracy.

As talented, brilliant and enjoyable to watch as Jota was, there has always been a niggling feeling that all those injuries prevented him from reaching his full potential, interrupting an otherwise fantastic career at the most inopportune moments. If only he could stay fully fit, he would one of the world’s best strikers, it was argued. Sadly, now we will never know if that was the case.

Read – Diogo Jota: Spanish police confirm details of tragic car crash

See Also – Cristiano Ronaldo pays tribute to late Diogo Jota and Andre Silva

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