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Tributes at Anfield Stadium, home of Liverpool, in memory of Diogo Jota who has died at the age of 28. The Portugal forward died along with his younger brother Andre Silva in the accident in Zamora on Thursday morning. Picture date: Thursday July 3, 2025. | Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images
Some first team players were due back Friday
Liverpool have extended the first team players due to start pre-season today some grace to cope with the sudden loss of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota, and his brother, André Silva. Players due in for July 4th fitness tests are no longer required to come in such close proximity to the tragedy.
The shock of the loss makes the concept of “work as usual” impossible, and the club will continue to grapple with the best way to support players and staff over coming days and months.
In his statement honoring Jota’s passing, head coach Arne Slot said, “For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player. He was a loved one to all of us. He was a teammate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special.”
After listing the best parts of Jota’s character as a man and a player — some of which we as fans knew, some we didn’t — Slot acknowledged that the next steps are difficult to see so soon after the loss:
“That we have lost those qualities in such terrible circumstances is something we have not yet come to terms with. For this reason, we need everyone at the club to stand together and to be there for one another. We owe this to Diogo, to Andre Silva, to their wider family and to ourselves.
“My condolences go to Diogo’s wife, Rute, their three beautiful children and to the parents of Diogo and Andre Silva.
“When the time is right, we will celebrate Diogo Jota, we will remember his goals and we will sing his song. For the time being, we will remember him as a unique human being and mourn his loss. He will never be forgotten.”
Support and grace at this time are paramount, and Slot and the club are now negotiating challenging terrain: how best to support those in the Liverpool community affected by this tragedy in coming days, months, and years.
