Virgil van Dijk on Diogo Jota in an exclusive interview with Paul Joyce of The Times:
"Diogo meant a lot to me, to the team, to the club. I think that’s pretty obvious, first and foremost, as a person. He was an incredible person. With the way he was and behaved, he didn’t feel like he was from Portugal. The lads said he was more Scottish — McJota!"
"He was hard-working, team-oriented, always 100 per cent whether he played or not. I said many times to him that he could run through players like Luis Suárez."
"There are moments when it is tough because, like I said, you will remember Diogo whether you are prepared or not, whether you can cope with it at that time or not. It’s about how you then react, and the boys have been outstanding.
The senior boys have discussed it and we want to obviously honour his legacy, not only for the next year, two years, three years. He needs to be remembered forever and that’s something we’re going to discuss with the club, how we’re going to be able to do that."
"We have his locker here at the training ground, we have his locker at the stadium. The memorial at the stadium is coming. But I think we can do a lot more in terms of remembering him, and that’s something me and the senior boys will be looking after. And I feel that responsibility in order to make that happen, too." (The Times)
When clubs don’t want a player, they try to freeze them out of the club, as Manchester United is doing with Hojlund, Sancho, and Garnacho, and Chelsea is doing with Jackson and other contracted players. However, people don’t see any problem with this, but when a key player wants out of a club, it becomes a big problem.
Joel Matip retired from football just last year. He lives a private life and has no social media.
He only played for 2 clubs, Schalke and Liverpool. He won 8 trophies, including the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
Today, he turns 34. 🇨🇲❤️