A club president has disclosed that they were working on signing Diogo Jota from Liverpool until the Portuguese forward’s unfortunate demise on Thursday, July 3.

Jota and his younger brother André Silva passed away at 12:40 am local time in Cernadilla, in the Zamora region of Spain, after an accident in their Lamborghini.

The brothers’ deaths were hastened by their car catching fire on impact after a tyre burst, and the incident threw the football community into mourning.

FC Porto’s president, Andre Villas-Boas, was present at the wake and funeral services and spoke about his plans to bring the versatile forward back home after the events.

“Unfortunately, we were working with agent Jorge Mendes on Diogo Jota's return to FC Porto, and it won't be possible," Villas-Boas said as quoted by Express UK.

“It would be from 2026/27, and we had discussed the possibility. I made a point of conveying that message to Diogo, through Jorge Mendes, at his wedding, and it was a dream for all the Porto fans that it had happened.”

Jota came through the ranks at Gondomar and Pacos de Ferreira before joining Atlético Madrid in 2016, spending one of his two seasons in Spain on loan at Porto and the second on loan at Wolves, which he joined permanently.

He moved to Anfield after two seasons in Wolverhampton, and after impressing in his first two years, he was rewarded with an improved contract, which would have ended in the summer of 2027.

Liverpool players resumed pre-season training today, July 8, after initially pushing it forward from Friday, July 4, after the tragic incident involving Diogo Jota.

Ahead of the resumption at AXA training centre, FSG global director of football Michael Edwards, manager Arne Slot and Scottish fullback Andrew Robertson paid tribute to Jota again.

The trio, alongside Slot’s wife, laid a wreath outside Anfield amongst the array of flowers laid by fans and well-wishers.

“We [Slot and Jota] had the same dream and we fulfilled it together,” Arne Slot told Liverpoolfc.com.

The players will continue their preparation at Kirkby tomorrow, but no information has been provided about their first pre-season match against Preston North End.

Preston have reportedly planned to honour the player’s memory at Deepdale if the match goes ahead, while Liverpool will consult their players before making a decision.

Legit.ng reported that Andre Silva's wife published a statement to clear up the confusion from the fans after they mistook Diogo Jota’s brother for her husband.

Jota’s brother André Silva shared the same name with the RB Leipzig forward who was the Liverpool forward's former teammate at Porto when the late Silva was in the U19.

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Source: Legit.ng