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Beto has disclosed the thoughtful gesture that the late Liverpool star Diogo Jota made towards him upon his arrival at Everton. However, the Toffees striker acknowledges he won't be expecting any warm reception from Reds supporters during Saturday's crucial encounter.
Everton travels to Liverpool for the 247th Merseyside Derby on Saturday, some 172 days after the teams last met. It marks the first occasion in the fixture's history that the Blues won't be 'crossing Stanley Park', following their relocation to Hill Dickinson Stadium from Goodison Park.
A significant development since that previous encounter on April 2 was the tragic passing of that evening's match-winner, Jota, who lost his life alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car accident on July 3, reports the Liverpool ECHO.
Following the tragedy, Beto and Everton's other Portuguese player at the time, Youssef Chermiti, accompanied club ambassador Ian Snodin to lay floral tributes near Liverpool's stadium, with Blues manager David Moyes and his assistant Alan Irvine amongst others making comparable gestures.
Whilst Beto admits he wasn't particularly close to his local footballing rival away from the pitch, Jota - who joined Liverpool on this very date five years ago - still made contact with him following his switch from Italian side Udinese in August 2023.
Reflecting on Jota's passing, Beto commented: "That day, the day that thing happened, I was at home in Portugal. That day I would travel to Manchester to come here for the pre-season. I was shocked. I was shocked because Diogo was a really good guy.
"We were not friends, but you know, when you play against Portuguese players and everything, we normally stop, we speak a little bit. You have Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, these guys, but when I signed for Everton, he was the first guy who texted me.
"He just texted me and said: 'I'm happy for you. I'm happy for you. If you need anything on the city, everything, I can help you, just give me a shout'.
"After every game that we play against Liverpool, we'd talk a little bit. We were not best friends, you know, but we talk a little bit, he was a really, really good guy. I'd ask: 'how is everything?' It was sad. It was really sad.
"When Everton showed the interest for me to go to the stadium, I said: 'I go, I go', because he was a really, really nice person. Not just because he was Portuguese and we understand each other, but he was a really, really nice person, humble.
"You can see what everyone says about him, you know? It's something that it really, really sad."
Blue scarves from Evertonians placed on the Kop were amongst the earliest tributes paid by Liverpool's supporters following Hillsborough, and once more the city came together during a time of heartbreak through the dignified gestures of Everton and their supporters in the wake of Jota's passing.
When asked about his feelings visiting Anfield to pay tribute, he remarked: "It was good, I saw a togetherness between Everton and Liverpool. Not between clubs, but more between fans, you know?
"A lot of Everton fans were sad because even if he's a rival, but it's more than football. It's life, life is more than football. I liked the way the Everton approached it, not just the club, but the fans, they approached it really good. It was a good feeling.
"I love the Scousers, to be honest, because they are really, really nice people. If they support Liverpool, if they don't support Liverpool, they are really nice people.
"All of the Scousers that I bump into outside of football, and when they don't know that I'm a footballer, they are really, really good people. With football, it's different. Sometimes they're going to hate you. It's not hate, but they're going to dislike you just because you play for the rival. It's normal. For me, it's okay.
"If I go to Anfield on a Saturday and they boo me or they whistle to me, it's normal. They're not going to be thinking: 'Oh, Beto is a good guy because he went to lay flowers for Diogo'. It's not the same.
"They go there for football, you know, but the part that they're human being, they have it. So I'm okay with that. Of course, I will have respect for Diogo and for the Liverpool community. But like I said, it's a derby - I need to go there and try to win, score and everything."
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