Diogo Jota was reportedly driving to catch a ferry to the UK after being advised not to fly due to lung surgery, before the Liverpool forward and his brother were involved in a car crash and both died. Jota, 28, and his 26-year-old brother Andre Silva were in an accident in the municipality of Cernadilla, Zamora, when their car left the road due to a tyre blowout and then caught fire.
CNN Portugal have claimed that the reason why Jota was driving was to get to Santander to catch a ferry to return to Liverpool ahead of pre-season training. The Portuguese forward had married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, just 11 days ago and they had three children together.
The channel’s sports editor Rui Laura said: "The surgery he had had was lung surgery and he had been advised against flying following this.
"He was on his way to the northern Spanish port city of Santander to cross the ferry and reach the UK that way and carry on with the car once he reached Britain. He was on his way to Liverpool with his brother."
CMTV journalist Victor Pinto also said: "Diogo Jota sometimes chose to travel by road because he had some pulmonary discomfort, nothing serious, and as we know, there is a ferry boat that connects the south of England to Spain’s Cantabria region.
"The information we have is that he was going to take a ferry to Santander, so this means it wasn’t exactly a road trip from England to Portugal. In this case, Diogo Jota would have made the ferry trip with his brother."
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