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Liverpool have paid a heartfelt tribute to forward Diogo Jota who tragically passed away aged 28. The Portugal international and his brother Andre Silva were killed when a car they were travelling in veered off the road in the Spanish province of Zamora in the early hours of Thursday morning. His tragic passing comes just two weeks after his marriage to long-term partner Rute Cardoso in Portugal. Jota’s last act as a Liverpool player was lifting the Premier League title on the final day of last season. The Merseyside club posted a statement on their social media channels to express their sadness at the 'unimaginable loss'. The statement read: "Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota. "The club have been informed the 28-year-old has passed away following a road traffic accident in Spain along with his brother, Andre. "Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request the privacy of Diogo and Andre’s family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss. "We will continue to provide them with our full support. " Fans have gathered outside Anfield to lay tributes and come together to pay their respects to Jota and his brother. Liverpool fans contacted talk SPORT on Thursday morning to pay their own tributes to the star. "He's the closest player I've seen to Robbie Fowler scoring, ” said Reds' fan Lee. “I love him, the kids love him. I don't know what to say to my kids now when they come home from school. I'm supposed to get them new tops next week all with his name on them. “I'm still going to get them anyway. I'm just gutted. But this won't break Liverpool Football Club, this will bring us all together. We're the best fans in the world. ” Another fan Turab called upon the club to retire his number 20 shirt. “I wasn’t sure if this was true, but I jumped out of a meeting. It’s tough and I don’t know how to process it, " he said. “My thoughts go out to his family, his young kids. I’m reading that he’s just got married a couple of weeks ago. “It’s a tough one. Obviously the club haven’t said anything. He wears the 20 and we just won 20. Personally, I just feel like they should take into consideration retiring his shirt. ” Ex-professionals and pundits have also given their reactions to the news. Former England international Stuart Pearce told talk SPORT: “The Liverpool family will need to unite behind his family. My heart goes out to the family. They’ve lost two sons. "I was on the coaching staff at Manchester City and Marc-Vivien Foé was one of our players and lost his life on a football pitch. And the impact that had around the football club in the dressing room with teammates was just immense. "Liverpool have probably had one of the biggest highs that they've had winning the Premier League this summer and then obviously the traffic incident at the celebrations, followed by this as well. The highs and lows of life, if you like, are there for all to see in many ways. "Listen, I never knew Diogo, I've never met him before, but the impact it sort of had for everybody, the state of shock is quite incredible because of his age, because he was in his prime, because of his brother being with him at the time as well, you know, two members from the same family. It's just horrific. " Ex-Arsenal defender Martin Keown added: “Shocking, devastating news. Two brothers enjoying an evening together, their family must be beside themselves. ” Spain-based journalist Phil Kitromilides provided further information on the location of the accident. “The people that I have spoken to say this isn’t a dangerous part of the motorway, ” he told talk SPORT. “This is a route that people take from Madrid to Portugal, it is right on the border. The sense of shock is palpable. It is actually quite overwhelming this morning. ” Emergency services in the Castilla and Leon region confirmed details of the crash on Thursday morning. "The 1-1-2 Castilla y León operations room received several calls reporting a vehicle accident at Km. 65 of the A-52, in the municipality of Cernadilla, Zamora. A car was reported to have been involved in an accident and the vehicle was on fire, " a statement read. "1-1-2 notified the Zamora Traffic Police, the Zamora Provincial Council Fire Brigade, and the Sacyl Emergency Coordination Center (CCU) of this accident. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

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