Liverpool’s players have reported back for pre-season training at the club’s AXA Training Centre following Diogo Jota’s funeral on Saturday.
Jota was killed in a car crash in Spain last Thursday alongside his brother Andre Silva and their funeral in their home town of Gondomar, near Porto, was attended by many of the Portugal forward’s Liverpool team-mates and staff.
Some of Arne Slot’s squad had been scheduled to return for pre-season training on Friday, but the club delayed their return following the accident.
Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Northern Ireland’s Conor Bradley and Wataru Endo were among the players pictured arriving at the training ground.
Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley arrives at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre for the first day of pre-season training following the weekend funeral of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Wire)placeholder image
Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley arrives at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre for the first day of pre-season training following the weekend funeral of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Liverpool’s first pre-season friendly is scheduled for Sunday against Preston at Deepdale, but the Premier League champions have yet to announce whether the game will go ahead.
The Reds, who will play FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in the Community Shield on August 10, are also scheduled to face AC Milan in Hong Kong and J1 League side Yokohama in Japan at the end of this month.
And Jota is thought to have been driving when he and his brother Andre Silva died, Spanish police have said.
The Liverpool player and father-of-three was killed alongside his brother, also a footballer, after the Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of last Thursday in Zamora, Spain.
A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil of Zamora told the PA news agency that tests being carried out by its traffic division showed Jota was driving the car at the time.
The spokesperson added that the car was thought to be travelling above the speed limit on the road, which local media report is 120kmph (74mph).
The spokesperson said: “The expert report is being carried out and finished, where among other things they are studying the marks (tread) left by one of the wheels of the vehicle.
“Everything also points to a possible high excess of speed over the permitted speed of the road.
“All the tests carried out for the moment point to the fact that the driver of the vehicle was Diogo Jota.”
The report has not yet been finalised but will be handed over to the court in the town of Puebla de Sanabria, Zamora.
Jota and his brother were found dead after the car crashed on the A-52 in Palacios de Sanabria near the city of Zamora at 12.40am on Thursday.
Pictures of the aftermath of the crash showed debris scattered along the side of the road including what appeared to be charred parts of the vehicle.
Jota’s long-term partner Rute Cardoso, whom he had married just 11 days before the accident, was in attendance, as were his parents.