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Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool’s pre-season opener means more.

Today, Liverpool kickstart their 2025/26 season with a trip to Deepdale to face Preston North End.

The club have begun pre-season behind closed doors, as the privacy of the players is respected as they come to terms with the unimaginable loss of Diogo Jota.

Anfield has become a sight of remembrance and an outpouring of love as hundreds of tributes have been left outside the stadium by fans, teammates and the general public as they pay their respects to a player and a man who means so much.

Arne Slot has only been at the club one season, but during that time he has already created a special bond with his players, including Diogo Jota, and he has now shared a powerful message ahead of Liverpool’s pre-season opener.

The Dutchman expressed his admiration of the way the club and the fans have handled such a complex and emotionally testing situation, detailed his own special memories of Diogo Jota and explained how he and the players are processing everything.

The club made the decision to retire Jota’s No.20 shirt as a way of honouring his legacy.

Arne Slot: “We will carry him with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, wherever we go.

To retire his shirt is the one thing we could, should and have done.”

The Liverpool manager then went on to explain what his overriding memory of Diogo Jota would be.

“I think what I take comfort in [is that] in the last month of his life he was a champion in everything.

A champion for his family, which is the main and important thing, because he got married.”

“A champion for his country because he won the Nations League, a country that he cared about so much, because he also wore the flag when we had celebrations.

And of course with us by winning the Premier League.”

As the players work out how to deal with such a tragedy, Arne Slot has highlighted the importance of dealing with it by being yourself.

“I’ve said to them, maybe the best thing for us to do is handle this situation like Jota was?

And what I meant with that is that Jota was always himself, it didn’t matter if he was talking to me, his teammates, to the staff, he was always himself.”

“Be yourself, don’t think that you have to be different than your emotions tell you.”

Expertly delivered from Arne Slot with the emotion felt in every word he said there.

He will now be doing his best to lift his teams spirits today as they prepare to take to the field for the first time since lifting the Premier League.

You can read the full interview on the Liverpool FC website here.

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