Jurgen Klopp pens heartfelt Diogo Jota tribute ahead of poignant Liverpool v Wolves fixture | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp has penned a heartfelt tribute to the late Diogo Jota on the eve of Liverpool’s Premier League fixture against Wolves on Saturday afternoon.

The German was manager at Anfield when the Portuguese forward joined the Reds from Molineux in 2020 and oversaw the player’s first four seasons on Merseyside before Arne Slot took the reins.

As LFC prepare for their final game of 2025, the year in which we tragically lost our forever number 20 in a car accident in northern Spain, fate would have it that the team in opposition are the other English club that he represented.

Klopp pens heartfelt tribute to Diogo Jota

On Boxing Day, The Observer published a tribute written by Klopp in which he shared a poignant insight into what Jota was like a person, with the obituary beginning: ‘Diogo Jota. I still smile every time I say or hear the name. Honestly, it brings this big, beaming grin to my face. Affection. Appreciation. Love.’

The former Liverpool manager continued: ‘Why was he so loved? For me, it’s simple. Because in Diogo, people saw the very best of themselves, or maybe the best of what we wanted to be.

‘He was humble and authentic. He didn’t pretend to be anything other than who he was, and in the tributes that came in, in those terrible hours and days after the accident, the words were always the same: he was fun, he was normal, he was genuine. Diogo was simply Diogo, unashamedly.

‘Although I remember the footballer with huge pride, it is the person I remember most. But the beautiful thing is: both versions of him shared the same qualities.’

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Jurgen finds the perfect words to describe Diogo Jota

Unsurprisingly, Klopp has found the perfect words to capture just what Jota was like as a person – a genuine, down-to-earth character who was universally loved and who fame never changed despite his global renown and vast monetary wealth.

That Jurgen talks about smiling when he says or hears the name of the Portuguese forward is simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. For Diogo to have such an effect on people illustrates how many lives he touched during his all too short time on this Earth.

Andy Robertson’s tribute in the 24 hours after the tragedy in July also perfectly captured our forever number 20 as a person as the Scot spoke of how they would cherish simple pastimes such as watching darts or horse racing, also sharing an insight into their mutual sense of humour.

Jota is honoured at every Liverpool match by the airing of the chant in his name from Reds supporters, but today’s fixture against another former club in Wolves will carry an added poignancy, not least when his two sons walk out with the teams prior to kick-off.

The pragmatic reality is that this is just like any other match in terms of LFC needing to get the job done and collect three points, but with Diogo being cherised and loved so deeply by both sets of fans, Anfield’s final fixture of 2025 will be an emotional one irrespective of the result on the pitch.