Liverpool will always wear Diogo Jota in their hearts, said manager Arne Slot while his team is preparing to play his first match since the attacker’s tragic death.
Jota, 28, and his brother Andre Silva, 25, were killed in a car accident in northwest Spain on July 3.
Tributes have since flooded from the world of football, while Liverpool has announced that they will retire the number 20 worn by Jota in honor of the Portugal star.
The Reds will remember Jota before facing Preston North End in a pre-season friend in Deepdale on Sunday.
Liverpool’s return to the field can naturally prove to be a difficult experience for their players, but Slot thinks that keeping Jota’s memory alive in their hearts will be beneficial in the most difficult times.
“We will always wear it with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, wherever we go. Perhaps especially in difficult times,” Slot TV said before the game with Preston.
“But at any time we are here, we will wear it with us in our thoughts and in our hearts. Remove your shirt is the only thing we could, should have done.
“I think what I comfort myself (is that) during the last month of his life, he was a champion in everything. Champion for his family, who is the main thing and the most important because he got married.
“We will always wear it with us” ❤️
Slot Arne with a sincere tribute to Diogo Jota.
– Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 13, 2025
“A champion of his country because he won the League of Nations, (with) a country he cared so much, because he also wore the flag when we had celebrations. And of course a champion for us by winning the Premier League.
“The first feeling we have all is sad. The second feeling that comes to mind is pride. I think his parents and the wife of Jota) can be so proud of the player and the person he was – mainly the person.
“I spoke to many of his teammates, I spoke to many staff members, and they all note it so high and all say how kind it was of a person. That he has always been himself. They should therefore and will be very proud if they could hear what all of his teammates and all staff would say about him.
“Second, I think our fans can be so proud of the players we have in this club. They saw them winning the league was a great success, but what they did last week with the conviviality they had, how they led when we were in Portugal (for the funeral of Jota) together, the fans could not have asked for more of our players when they arrive at the great scope they are.
“These are the two emotions. Of course, the first emotion of sadness is much stronger than that of being proud. But these are both. “
On the prospect of playing football again after Jota’s death, Slot added: “Nothing seems important if we think about what happened. But we are a football club and we have to train and we have to play again, whether we want it or not.
“What I said to the players, I can say it here too. It is very difficult to find the right words because we constantly debate what is appropriate. What is appropriate in our actions? What is appropriate (for) what we have to say? Can we train? Can we laugh again? Can we be angry if there is a bad decision?
Forever our number 20… ❤️ pic.twitter.com/skrbd8cmge
– Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 11, 2025
“And I told them, maybe the best thing to do is manage this situation like Jota. And what I wanted to say with that was that Jota was always himself, it didn’t matter that he was talking to me, to his teammates, to the staff, he has always been himself.
“So let’s also try to be ourselves. So if we want to laugh, we laugh; If we want to cry, we will cry. If they want to train, they can train, if they don’t want to train, they can’t train. But be yourself, don’t think you have to be different than your emotions tell you.
“Secondly, JOTS was the player that if things were really, really, really difficult, I always looked at him and I said” now we need something special on your part “. And he delivered so many times in these moments. I can find all these moments, even before I was here, he also had a lot of these moments.
“So we are in a very difficult period, so let’s try to do what Diogo has done so many times. If it is so difficult, try a little louder or continue to go and try to make it work.
“The last thing is that he was the player of our team, I would say that, mainly with him, it was the team. And not only the players; also, as I said, the staff. If we want to go through this period, we must do it together.”
