A ex-Liverpool star has adopted Diogo Jota’s shirt quantity as a tribute to his former team-mate.
On July 3, Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, died when their automobile crashed within the early hours in northern Spain.
The 28-year-old ahead had lately married his childhood sweetheart at a ceremony in his native Portugal following a marketing campaign culminating in trophy-winning successes for each membership and nation.
After the incident Liverpool introduced that Jota’s No 20 could be instantly retired for all ranges following session together with his widow and his household.
And, former Liverpool midfielder James Milner has opted to undertake the shirt quantity as a solution to pay tribute to his late pal.
On Friday Brighton introduced their shirt numbers for the 2025-26 marketing campaign, however the veteran midfielder Milner was not occupying his common No 6.
James Milner will put on the No 20 shirt for Brighton subsequent season as a tribute to Diogo Jota
The midfielder defined that he needed to put on his late pal’s quantity as a ‘mark of respect’
The pair performed collectively at Liverpool between 2020 and 2023 earlier than Milner joined Brighton
As a substitute, after Carlos Baleba’s swap to No 17 freed up the No 20 shirt, Milner determined to undertake it as a mark of respect to Jota.
‘As soon as I heard Carlos was trying to change his quantity and 20 was out there, I needed to do it as a mark of respect and pay tribute to Diogo Jota,’ Milner informed the membership’s social media.
‘He was a tremendous participant who I used to be lucky to play with and a fantastic pal as properly.
‘Will probably be a fantastic honour to put on his quantity within the Premier League this yr.’
Milner and Jota performed collectively at Anfield between 2020 and 2023, when the previous England worldwide joined the Seagulls.
The 39-year-old – who signed a brand new one-year deal on the South Coast in June – wants 16 extra Premier League appearances to overhaul Gareth Barry because the league’s all-time chief on 653 video games.
