Diogo Jota has died aged 28 after the Lamborghini he was travelling in with his brother in Northern Spain crashed. The pair reportedly suffered a flat tyre on the A-52 in the province of Zamora, before erupting into a fireball
15:56, 03 Jul 2025Updated 16:08, 03 Jul 2025
Diogo Jota had a career marked predominantly by roaring success
Diogo Jota had a career marked predominantly by roaring success(Image: Getty Images)
By the time of his tragic death, Diogo Jota had risen through the ranks of elite football to stake his claim as a leading forward in arguably the best team in the world.
Jota's death was announced on Thursday morning, at the age of just 28, after a Lamborghini he and his brother, André Silva, were travelling in suffered a tyre blowout on the A-52 in north-west Spain.
Liverpool had just completed a wonderful season, which is now tinged with incredible sadness, cruising to the Premier League title, their second in six years, with an impressive campaign that felt like it was over in March.
The world was at 28-year-old Jota's feet, and despite suffering from injuries throughout the season – muscle problems which saw him miss 18 games – he still made 37 appearances in all competitions, netting nine times.
Jota would bag 49 international caps for Portugal
Jota would bag 49 international caps for Portugal(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
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The previous season had been even better for the Portuguese star. Despite missing 25 games, he scored 15 goals in 32 games in a season that saw the Reds snag the League Cup.
Injuries, then, were the only real blot on the career of a player who scored and played regularly for a club enjoying success on multiple fronts and who slotted 14 international goals in 49 caps for his international side.
But it wasn't always as straightforward. Here, we take a look back at the tragic ace's career.
Diogo Jota’s youth career
Paços de Ferreira promoted him from youth to senior level
Paços de Ferreira promoted him from youth to senior level(Image: Getty Images)
Jota’s career started humbly playing for the youth teams of Gondomar, a club that knocks around the third and fourth divisions of the Portuguese football pyramid. In 2013, he was picked up by the relative giants of Paços de Ferreira, which has moved between the nation’s top flight and second tier a handful of times since the turn of the century. At this point, he still had a long way to go.
Then his first big break came. For the start of the 2014 season, at the age of 17, he earned a call-up to the club’s first team squad.
Paços de Ferreira and Atletico Madrid
Jota's stint at Athleticio was one of the more forgettable parts of his career
Jota's stint at Athleticio was one of the more forgettable parts of his career(Image: J J Guillen/EPA/Shutterstock)
As a teenager playing the club’s first team, Jota began to make his name, scoring his first goal in May 2015. In the process, he set a record as the club's youngest ever goalscorer in Portugal’s top division.
Here, he did enough to earn a move to Spanish titans Atletico Madrid at the age of 19. At the time, an excited official communication from José Luis Pérez Caminero, Sporting Director of the club, waxed lyrical: "He is a young player, very fast and vertical, carries the ball very well and has a great outrun. Diogo has a great projection and stands out for his one-on-one and his versatility, because he can play in several positions".
Atletico, in the end, would not end up being a career high for Jota. He never made an appearance for the Rojiblancos in his two years at the club and was sent out on loan twice.
Diogo Jota’s loan stints at Porto and Wolves
Jota made a a positive mark in one of his homeland's biggest sides, Portugal
Jota made a a positive mark in one of his homeland's biggest sides, Portugal(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Portuguese first moved back to his homeland to play for one of the country’s leading teams: Porto.
Here, after cutting his teeth at a smaller club in the same division, Jota would show the first bit of evidence he was capable of performing in the top echelons of European football. He would net eight goals in 27 league games and would go on to make eight appearances in the Champions League, scoring once.
When the end of the season came, he was loaned out by Atletico again, this time to the West Midlands, where Wolves were battling for promotion in the Championship. Despite an apparent downgrade from turning out under the lights for grand European clashes, Jota made his mark at Molineux, netting 18 times in 46 appearances in all competitions and helping them secure promotion to the Premier League.
Diogo Jota’s Wolves move on a permanent deal
Jota will be remembered extremley fondly in Wolverhampton, having played a major part in the club's promotion to the Premier League
Jota will be remembered extremley fondly in Wolverhampton, having played a major part in the club's promotion to the Premier League(Image: Getty Images)
Jota made such an impression at Wolves that the club made his move permanent for a sum of around £10million in 2018. He would go on to spend two further seasons there, making 85 appearances and scoring 26 times.
In 2019, he would score a hat-trick against Leicester City, score overhead kicks and bag in the Europa League as Wolves enjoyed a golden period and established itself as a Premier League mainstay.
Wolves chairman Jeff Shi would later admit he regretted selling Jota, telling the Business of Sport podcast: “In the last nine or eight years, I think we shouldn’t have sold Diogo Jota.
“At that time, I spoke with Nuno (Espirito Santo) and we may sell one of the players, maybe Diogo, Adama (Traore), whatever. Then Nuno chose Adama to stay, because he thinks maybe Adama was so important for how he played. So we sold Diogo.
“Of course, at the time, Diogo was injured a little bit too much, you know? So he was injured for two months, then two months again or whatever, and then not playing so well in the last three, four months for us.
“But he went to Liverpool, he did so well, and I was very happy for him. He was a very good guy and a smart boy.
“But if you ask me if I can change history, I wouldn’t have sold him.”
Liverpool move
Jota would go on to arguably have his best years as a player in a Liverpool shirt
Jota would go on to arguably have his best years as a player in a Liverpool shirt(Image: Getty Images)
Jota’s star had risen massively by 2020, which saw him secure a move to Liverpool for around £45million, providing his former club with a huge profit. He would go on to win the hearts and minds of the Kop with his exciting and tenacious playing style, bagging key goals often with impressive finishes.
He later signed a new long-term contract with the Reds in 2022, and despite his aforementioned recurring injury problems in the latter stages of his time at Liverpool, he had established himself as a fan favourite.
In total, he would make 182 appearances for the Reds and bag himself an impressive 65 goals.
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His impact and appreciation from the Kop have already been clear in the hours since his death was announced. Tributes for him have been pouring in, with the club and fans coming together to let the world know he’ll never walk alone.