Diogo Jota tonight completed his transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Liverpool FC. The 23-year-old attacker has signed a five-year-deal at the Merseyside club for an initial £41 million, rising to £45 million in add-ons according to Liverpool FC journalist James Pearce.
The Portuguese international initially signed for Wolves on a loan from Atlético Madrid. His first season with Wolves was an overwhelming success and the club put plans in place in January, to sign him permanently the following July. He scored 17 goals and assisted six in the Championship, helping Wolves romp to the Championship title, gaining automatic promotion to the top flight in the process. He continued to impress for Wolves both in the Premier League and particularly in the Europa League the following season. He departs Wolves after making 131 appearances, scoring 44 times and providing 19 assists.
His form last season was somewhat inconsistent, with Jota tending to operate better when playing in a front two, as opposed to out wide as part of a front three. This was an issue for Wolves as a front two of Jota and Jimenéz usually meant the ever-improving Adama Traore had to be left out the starting XI. Próxima Jornada looked at the positional and tactical conundrum that Diogo Jota posed to Wolves, you can read this here: https://proxima-jornada.com/2020/05/24/the-diogo-jota-conundrum/ Wolves supporters will be disappointed to lose Jota, after all this is a man who has been there since the start of Nuno’s revolution, but for the amount of money they are receiving coupled with Jota’s recent inconsistency, if might not be a bad thing to let him go after all.
Diogo is still young and has much room to improve, he is now going to play under Jürgen Klopp, a manager known for his ability to stretch the best out of players until there is nothing left. What Klopp and Liverpool are getting is an extremely talented, versatile player who on his day is unstoppable. If he can incorporate Jota into his well-crafted system, then Liverpool have one hell of a player on their hands. Much has been made about how many chances he will get, particularly in his first year at Anfield but with Liverpool’s involvement in four competitions (Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Carabao Cup, FA Cup) the game-time will be there, it’s up to Jota to put his best case forward when these comes do come his way.
Words by Aaron Barton for Próxima Jornada | Images courtesy of Getty Images
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