On the eve of the new season without Diogo, itās hard not to think of all weāve lost.
Heād just gotten married. Just lifted a Premier League title. Just scored the kind of derby goal that seals legacies. He wasnāt slowing down. He was entering his prime. Stepping into a new chapter under Slot, with creativity ready to reshape the attack. Imagine how many more chances heād have had. How many heād had taken. And now heās gone. Alongside his younger brother AndrĆ©. A crash. A loss. A silence.
And somehow, a song.
In the days since, it hasnāt stopped playing in my head. His chant. That melody. That feeling. That rhythm we sang for him - not because we were told, not because the club hyped it, but because he made us want to. Because he earned it. Because he never asked.
Thereās a type of footballer Liverpool fans adore. The ones who donāt chase headlines. Who get knocked down, get back up and get on with it. Who donāt beg for love, but get it anyway because they show up. Jota was exactly that.
Not the most followed on Instagram. Not the most marketable. Not the flashiest boots. But he turned up - in the big games, the tight games, the moments where others went missing.
Think about it. Spurs at Anfield. Wolves away. City, Arsenal, United. Forest in the Cup. Forest away in the league with his first touch. He didnāt pad stats. He changed outcomes. When we needed a goal, needed a break, needed a bloody miracle, Jota was there. Half a yard. Back post. Low finish. Boom.
He wasnāt loud. But he was always heard. Thatās what made the chant perfect.
Most songs are for stars. Jota wasnāt that. Didnāt want to be. But we sang. And it stuck.
Born out of love, but also joy. A happy song with a bounce, a rhythm, and unmistakably his.
He sang it too. Remember that moment? One arm in the air, laughing, half-shouting the words back to the fans. Not a man obsessed with his own brand, just someone overwhelmed that people cared.
Thatās the thing. He didnāt need the adoration, which made us give it more freely.
He had a knack for goals that felt bigger than they should - ones that didnāt just change the scoreline but shifted the mood. Not always the opener. Not always the headline. But the one that tipped the balance, cracked the tension, made you believe again. That was Jota. The one that tilted everything.
He played like a man who knew the value of time. That urgency. That snap. It makes a grim kind of sense now. He didnāt waste minutes. He squeezed them. Like they mattered. Like he knew.
My favourite Jota goal is also my least favourite, because I took it for granted. I was so caught up in the relief, in the emotion. Weād kept the gap to Arsenal. The title was on the brink. The derby was being won. That was what mattered - the result, the breathing space. Number 20. Not Jota.
I thought I had time. Thought Iād see it again and again. Thatās the thing - we take things for granted. We plan them like certainties. Assume thereāll always be a next time. But there isnāt.
That goal sums him up. Liverpool were flat. I was convinced we might not score. It felt like Goodison two months before, tension clinging to everything. But Jota shifted it. His will to win, that tenacity, that instinct, dragged the ball into the net. That was the difference. That was Diogo. A real winner. A match-definer.
His brother AndrĆ©, who wasnāt just family but his best friend. Diogo once said AndrĆ© was his favourite player to watch. That says everything.
And Ruteās words - āOne month of our āuntil death do us partā. Forever, your white girlā - have broken the entire fanbase. Because the love was real. And the loss is total.
You donāt retire numbers for just anyone. Liverpool never had. Until now.
There are tribute programmes and the banners and black-and-white images of him lifting the Premier League trophy. But what hits hardest is that the chant doesnāt stop.
Itās on loop.
And thatās how it should be. And weāll sing it now for a hundred years. For Diogo.ā¤ļøšµš¹