Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted his squad has struggled to return to football after the tragic death of Diogo Jota, urging his players to honor their late teammate by embracing his fearless spirit.
The Reds are set to play their first pre-season friendly against Preston on Sunday, just 10 days after Jota and his brother, André Silva, were killed in a car crash in Spain on July 3.
In an emotional interview with Liverpool’s official media, Slot revealed he told his players that the best way forward was to follow Jota’s example—staying true to themselves through grief.
“It’s been incredibly hard to find the right words,” Slot said. “We keep asking: What’s appropriate? Can we train? Can we laugh? Can we even get angry at a bad decision? I told the lads, maybe the best thing we can do is handle this the way Diogo would. He was always himself—whether with me, his teammates, or the staff. So let’s be ourselves too. If we need to laugh, we laugh. If we need to cry, we cry.”
Liverpool postponed pre-season preparations as most of the squad attended Jota’s funeral in Portugal last week. The club also announced it would retire his No. 20 shirt permanently.
Slot, who relied on Jota as a key figure in Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning campaign, reflected on the forward’s resilience. “Whenever we needed something special, he delivered,” he said. “Now, in this tough moment, we must do what he always did—dig deeper, keep going, and find a way.”
While acknowledging that football feels insignificant in the wake of such loss, Slot emphasized the need to move forward. “We’ll always carry Diogo in our hearts,” he said. “But we’re a football club—we have to train, we have to play, whether we’re ready or not.”
Liverpool’s tribute to Jota will extend beyond his retired number, with the team determined to honor his legacy on and off the pitch this season.
