Player Profile

Jota made an instant impact in his first Premier League appearance as a substitute against Arsenal on 28 September, scoring the third goal in a 3-1 win for Liverpool. He proved to be an excellent alternative throughout the season to the regular front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino. When he missed three months with a knee injury from December to February, his absence was felt. By the end of the campaign he had scored nine goals in nineteen Premier League appearances, as well as four from nine in the Champions League. Jota continued to impress and Klopp revealed in December 2021 what convinced Liverpool to pursue him. “I remember the first time I saw him I thought he could be a player for me because of how intense he was in all situations,” said Klopp. "Technically he was on a really high level but the intensity he puts in makes all the difference as at our level all players have technical quality. You make a difference with your attitude and that was what I was most excited about adding Diogo to the mix. People said he didn’t score an awful lot of goals but the problem is Wolves had the most intense style of play for offensive wingers. Jimenez was allowed to stay up but the rest had to cover the whole pitch and it costs you energy. And he was very young then. All that made it very interesting for us and it was clear he would make the next steps with us. What I didn’t know when I saw him first is Diogo is an incredible package. From a personality point of view he is an incredible boy, really smart, structured in a nice way.” He finished the 2021/22 campaign with 21 goals from 55 appearances.  2022/23 was a frustrating season for Jota. He missed the opening five league games due to a hamstring problem, then suffered a calf injury in a 1-0 win over Manchester City in October that kept him out for four months and caused him to miss the World Cup. He returned to action as a seventieth minute substitute against Everton on 13 February. Jota initially failed to score in eleven games but a double in the 6-1 rout of Leeds at Elland Road on 17 April set him on his way. By the end of the campaign he had added five more league goals, the most memorable being an injury time winner against Tottenham at Anfield after the Reds had let a 3-0 lead slip.