Once upon a time at Atletico Madrid: Reminiscing about Diogo Jota’s time at Atletico Madrid marinabays

marinabays Diogo Jota, 28, a forward from Liverpool, died in a car accident in Zamora, Spain, while he was on holiday. 

Many may remember Diogo Jota most clearly from his time at Anfield, where he played the most matches throughout his career, 123, and scored 47 goals. He was followed by his time with the Portuguese national team and Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he played 49 and 111 matches respectively. marinabays

But few people may remember that Diogo Jota was once a player for Atletico Madrid, which is not surprising because even though he had a two-year contract with the ‘Bears’, Jota never played a single game for the team. 

Diogo Jota began his football career with Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira, joining their youth system in 2013 before making his first-team debut in 2015, where he scored 14 goals and provided 10 assists in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. 

Such impressive form caught the eye of Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo, who prompted the 2014 La Liga champions to pay €7m to bring Jota to the Vicente Calderon.

However, Atletico Madrid decided to loan Diogo Jota to Porto immediately after signing the official contract a month ago and despite scoring eight goals with Porto, after returning from loan before the start of the 2017/18 season, the ‘Bears’ loaned Jota out for a second time to Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

And playing in the Premier League was where Diogo Jota really made a name for himself, scoring 17 goals before ‘Wolves’ decided to pay the Madrid team 14 million euros to bring the Portuguese striker to join the team on a permanent contract. As a result, in the end, even though Diogo Jota was once considered a ‘Los Golchoneros’ player, he himself never played for the team even a single game. 

“Atlético Madrid is deeply shocked by the news of the passing of our former player Diogo Jota and his brother Andre. We offer our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones. May their souls rest in peace,” an official statement from Atletico Madrid read. ( marinabays )

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