Liverpool postpone pre-season return following death of forward Diogo Jota

Liverpool have cancelled the phased return of players for pre-season training as they continue to mourn the death of forward Diogo Jota.

The first group of Arne Slot’s squad were scheduled to attend the club’s AXA training complex on Friday for the opening round of physical tests after their summer break.

However, the PA news agency understands that has been postponed as the club deals with the aftermath of the shocking tragedy which saw 28-year-old Jota and his brother Andre Silva killed in a car crash in Spain in the early hours of Thursday.

Mourners gathered at a wake in Portugal on Friday morning, ahead of the brothers’ funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar in Sao Cosme at 10am on Saturday.

Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez said the country had lost “one of its heroes”.

“We feel the family’s pain and, in this tragedy, we question life in general,” he said in a video released by the Portuguese Football Federation.

“We have created a family in the national team that goes far beyond football and Diogo is an important part of that – on and off the field.

“Portugal will miss one of its heroes.”

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said everyone associated with the club owed it to Jota to “stand together and be there for one another”.

Our lad from Portugal. Forever ❤️ pic.twitter.com/opXUCmJqKq

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 3, 2025

“For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player. He was a loved one to all of us. He was a team-mate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special.

“We need everyone at the club to stand together and to be there for one another. We owe this to Diogo, to Andre Silva, to their wider family and to ourselves.”

Jota’s team-mates have spoken of