Fan favourite’s death robs us of a quicksilver talent

Richard Jolly on the tragic loss of Liverpool’s Diogo Jota

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The caption is more poignant now, even as the words have proved horribly wrong. “Yes to forever,” wrote Diogo Jota, accompanying social-media pictures of his wedding to his long- time partner Rute Cardoso. Within two weeks, Jota’s forever had ended, the Liverpool and Portugal forward killed in a car crash in Spain, along with his brother Andre Silva. His new wife is already a widow, his three young children left without a father. “It doesn’t make any sense,” said Cristiano Ronaldo, his Portugal captain. There is a feeling of shock whenever a life is suddenly cruelly cut short, and Jota was just 28. It is still greater when someone has seemed as full of life as Jota did. He was often a smiling figure; “someone with an infectious joy,” Pedro Proenca, head of the Portuguese Football Federation, said. He was popular wherever he went. “Diogo was adored by our fans, loved by his teammates and cherished by everyone who worked with him during his time at Wolves,” his previous club said. Wolves described themselves as “heartbroken”, Liverpool as “devastated”.

But as a footballer, too, Jota was lively. He was defined by his sharpness, his verve, his quicksilver movement. Many a defender thought he had Jota under control only for the forward to emerge unmarked in the penalty area. Playing either as a left winger or a striker, he was a master of ghosting into space. It was allied with an excellence in front of goal that led Jamie Carragher to call Jota Liverpool's best finisher in the Premier League era.