In profile: Diogo Jota's career so far
The versatile Diogo Jota will provide further Premier League-proven quality to Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool squad after signing a long-term deal to join from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Jota penned his contract with the champions at Anfield on Saturday and has selected the No.20 jersey with his new club, becoming the Reds’ third signing for 2020-21.
Read our profile of the Portuguese’s career path to Liverpool below…
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Born in Porto on December 4, 1996, Jota took his first steps in the professional game with nearby Pacos de Ferreira, for whom he made a senior debut aged 17.
That first appearance came in the October of the 2014-15 season, in the Portuguese cup, and the forward fittingly marked the occasion with a goal and an assist.
Diogo’s development yielded opportunities in league football by the second half of the campaign and he went on to make eight top-flight starts, scoring twice, in the remainder of the term.
He carried that form into the subsequent season – indeed, significantly improved on it – as he missed only three Primeira Liga fixtures and weighed in with a dozen strikes to help his side claim a seventh-place finish.
Jota’s talent had sparked transfer interest and it was Atletico Madrid who secured his signature in the summer of 2016, though he would never actually play a game for the Spanish side.
Instead, there was an almost-immediate return to his homeland; specifically, a loan to FC Porto, where he linked up with Nuno Espirito Santo for the first time.
Diogo chipped in with eight Primeira Liga goals in his 27 appearances for Os Dragoes, who finished second to Benfica in the title race despite losing only twice throughout the campaign.
He also gained maiden experience in the Champions League that season, featuring eight times and netting once – in a home victory over Leicester City – until their elimination in the last 16.
Nuno soon departed the Porto dugout and, within days, was appointed to the helm of an ambitious Wolves project. Jota followed the coach to Molineux after another loan from Atletico was arranged.
It was to prove a perfect fit.
The attacker was integral to Wolves’ ascendancy out of the Championship under Nuno, plundering a team-high 17 goals in the division to aid their accumulation of 99 points and clinching of top spot in hugely impressive fashion.
Operating predominantly off the left-hand side, but capable of playing in a variety of different positions and tactical set-ups, Jota – whose loan became a permanent transfer in 2018 – remained a mainstay of the XI when the club continued to bolster their squad for the demands of the top flight.
And he and his side achieved an impeccable step up to the Premier League.
Diogo bagged 16 goals over the past two campaigns as Wolves tallied 57 and then 59 points, finishing seventh at the end of each season.
The Portuguese also topped up his European experience during a mammoth involvement for Nuno’s charges, who began 2019-20 with a Europa League qualifier in the July and ended it 13 months later in a quarter-final defeat by eventual tournament winners Sevilla.
Jota was on target nine times in his 14 outings in the competition, a total that included two hat-tricks – Besiktas and Espanyol succumbed to his finishing at Molineux.
Last season also saw Diogo make his senior international debut, as a substitute in Portugal’s 6-0 defeat of Lithuania last November, and earlier this month he opened his goalscoring account for his country with a strike in the 4-1 win against Croatia.
Now the 23-year-old will take another new step in his career, joining Klopp’s squad in their attempt to follow up the four trophies collected since June 2019.