Jose Mourinho pays glowing tribute to Diogo Jota ahead of tragic star's funeral

Jose Mourinho has added to the tributes for Liverpool star Diogo Jota, who passed away following a car accident in the early hours of Thursday morning,saying: "At Anfield he will always be part of the family."

The manager said he knew a lot about the Portugal forward because they shared an agent and admitted he is struggling to get his head around the shock passing of Jota and younger sibling Andre Silva. 26.

Father-of-three Diogo was killed in the early hours of Thursday morning along with his footballer brother Andre Silva when the Lamborghini Huracan they were travelling in burst into flames after a suspected tyre blowout on the A-52 highway near Zamora in north-west Spain.

They were heading to the northern port city of Santander to catch a ferry to the UK after the Liverpool player and Portugal international was advised not to travel by plane following lung surgery. Jota's funeral will take place on Saturday morning with a family wake taking place on Friday evening.

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"When people leave this world, normally we all say 'such a nice guy'. Diogo was really a nice guy,’" Mourinho told Sky Sports while at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

"He had my agent [Jorge Mendes], so of course I knew a lot about him. And people in Liverpool know what I’m saying is true. He is a kid who nothing was easy for him, he had to fight to arrive where he arrived.

"Three kids without a dad, a young woman without her husband, the parents lose both sons… it’s crazy. It’s difficult to understand. Maybe one day we will understand but not now."

Mourinho added that he believes Liverpool will pull together in their time of mourning and from his own experience at Porto many years ago he feels it will motivate the players to perform in Jota's memory.

"It happened with me many, many years ago when I was working at Porto with Mr Robson," he continued. "One of our boys, a loved boy, died in a car crash. Instead of the boys suffering alone it was like the group suffered together and trying to fight for his memory. It was a boy Rui Filipe and we were champions, I think, for him.

"In Liverpool they’re going to suffer together. The club is a fantastic club. I think they are deciding to take away the shirt number 20. At Anfield he will always be part of the family and maybe they lose a player but maybe they win even more soul than what they have."

Tributes have poured in from across football, including touching memories from his Anfield team-mates along with heartbreaking statements by Arne Slot and Jurgen Klopp.