Luis Diaz has broken his silence on the shock death of Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota and the impact the loss of his friend has had on him.
Jota and his brother Andre Silva were killed in a car crash in an area of northern Spain in the early hours of July 3.
The Lamborghini Huracan the pair were travelling in suffered a tyre blowout while overtaking another vehicle and subsequently left the road before then catching fire, according to Spanish police.
Jota had recently undergone surgery and is understood to have been advised not to fly by doctors before travelling to the Spanish port of Santander by car to head back to Liverpool for pre-season training.
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The football world was left stunned by the shock news and a wake took place for the two brothers in Gondomar in Portugal on Friday, before their funeral was held over the weekend.
Many of Jota's team-mates at club and international level attended the funeral including members of the Liverpool squad such as boss Arne Slot, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson, among others.
Manchester City duo Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva plus Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes were also in attendance, having been Jota's Portugal teammates, although his fellow international colleague Cristiano Ronaldo was not there.
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His club teammate Alisson was also unable to attend while another Liverpool player who was absent from the funeral was attacker Diaz, who has now broken his silence on the loss of his Anfield teammate.
The winger was not able to attend the funeral owing to travelling to his homeland of Colombia at the time.
But he has now reflected on his friend's death and paid an emotional tribute to his Liverpool teammate who welcomed him to Anfield when he arrived from Porto in January 2022, revealing he broke down in tears when learning the news of Jota's passing.
Speaking to WinSportsTV via the Daily Mail, he said: "It's very difficult to receive news like this, it's very sad.
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"No one is prepared for this, he was a key companion when I arrived in Liverpool because his family welcomed me and we formed a great friendship. We had a healthy rivalry and it was important.
"May he rest in peace, I have a great friend in my heart, who will always be remembered by his team.
"I want to send a lot of strength to his family, his wife, his children, because the truth is that they are suffering a lot with this.
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"[It hurts] a lot, a lot. It was incredible when I woke up and saw the news. The truth is I broke down in tears. It as a very, very, very big pain."
Jota joined Liverpool in 2020 from Wolves for a transfer fee of more than £40 million and went on to net 65 goals in 182 games on Merseyside.
In that time, he won the Premier League, one FA Cup and two League Cups, while he also won two UEFA Nations League titles with Portugal, the latest of which was this summer after victory in the competition's final over Spain on penalties.
Topics: Liverpool, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz
John McDougall