It’s fair to say West Ham United manager Graham Potter never needed any reminding as to the talents of Liverpool and Wolves icon Diogo Jota.
Back in December 2019, shortly before the Premier League champion blossomed into one of Europe’s finest forwards in the famous red of Liverpool, a thrilling 2-2 draw between Diogo Jota’s Wolves and Graham Potter’s Brighton offered a few tantalising glimpses into supreme intelligence and instinctive finishing that would earn the Portugal international a £41 million move to Anfield a few months later.
Brighton appeared to have no reason to fear when Jota picked up the ball wide on the left, in line with the centre circle.
But, in the blink of an eye, he breezed past Steven Alzate with a rapid one-two. And, after laying the ball off to Raul Jimenez, he hared towards the penalty spot. A cool one-touch finish, slid effortlessly into the back of the Brighton net, finished off a flowing move which epitomised the very best of a man who would provide 63 Premier League goals for Wolves and Liverpool.
His second of that Amex evening, meanwhile, saw the Portugal international pop up again inside the penalty area. Swivelling on a sixpence and firing into the bottom corner.
So, after witnessing Jota’s fizzing cocktail of speed, skill, flexibility and finesse at first hand, now-West Ham United boss Potter was certainly not surprised when Molineux’s magic man earned himself a big-money switch to one of football’s greatest institutions.
West Ham United boss Graham Potter summed up Liverpool hero Diogo Jota perfectly
In another world, the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and two-time UEFA Nations League winner could have donned the claret-and-blue.
West Ham scouted Jota prior to joining Wolves from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid back in 2018.
And the outpouring of grief from all corners of the game following the news of his tragic death aged just 28 – from East London and beyond – speaks volumes, not only about Jota’s talent on the pitch but also his humility and his infectious affability off it.
A passing which transcends rivalries and unites fans of all clubs in mourning.
Former Hammers player and coach Stuart Pearce was one of those shaken by Diogo Jota’s sudden passing. Just days after his wedding, and only weeks after lifting the first league title of his career.
“I never knew Diogo. I never met him,” Pearce tells talkSPORT. “But the impact [his passing] had for everybody, the state of shock was incredible because of his age, because he was in his prime, because of his brother being with him at the time as well.
“Two members of the same family, it’s just horrific.”
The man currently at the helm of the London Stadium outfit, meanwhile, perfectly summed up the multi-faceted brilliance of a man who scored three times against Graham Potter’s teams, while also netting during Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of West Ham as recently as December.
“Jota has settled in really well there and he fits what they are trying to do. He gives them another dimension,” Potter said after Liverpool, during the summer of 2020, followed up their maiden Premier League title with the arrival of a ‘really intelligent’ forward who had barely even scratched the surface of his colossal potential at the time.
“[Jota] allows them to play with a front-four with Mo Salah up front and [Roberto] Firmino as a number 10. [With Sadio Mane too] they have got probably the best front four in world football, arguably, so credit to Liverpool.
“They have identified someone they think can help them strengthen and I think he has done that.
“They are a formidable attacking unit. Those front four very dangerous.”
If the triumvirate of Salah, Mane and Firmino is destined to go down in English football folklore, then it was the addition of Diogo Jota which put the final flourish on a frontline capable of rivalling any in modern football history.
Premier League champion Diogo Jota passes away aged 28
After scoring 11 times in first 11 Liverpool appearances, there was a sense of inevitability about the nature of the goal which earned Jurgen Klopp’s champions a point away to Potter’s Brighton only hours after his glowing praise of the £41 million acquisition.
Potter, with that Amex brace still fresh in his mind, would surely have warned his defenders against giving Jota even an inch of space around the penalty area.
As it transpired, he really didn’t need any.
Picking up the ball on the edge of the box following a Mo Salah flick, Jota danced through not one, not two, not three but four Brighton players, his eventual finish perfectly placed between a sprawling goalkeeper and one desperate defender.
Intelligent, instinctive, ruthless.
Diogo Jota passed away just after midnight following a car accident in the Spanish province of Zamora on Thursday morning.
Rest in peace, Diogo.
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