12 hours ago
29
James Milner scored from the penalty spot as Brighton took on Manchester City at the Amex Stadium today, with the former Liverpool midfielder celebrating by paying tribute to Diogo Jota.
Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, tragically passed away in a car crash this summer. Liverpool retired the 20 jersey in his honor, and Milner took on the number when it was vacated by his Brighton teammate Carlos Baleba.
When Milner found the back of the net in the Premier League clash between Brighton and Manchester City, he celebrated by doing Jota's famous PlayStation celebration.
"Once I heard Carlos [Baleba] was looking to change his number and 20 was available, I wanted to do it as a mark of respect and pay tribute to Diogo Jota," Milner said on the Brighton's X channel at the start of August.
"He was an amazing player who I was fortunate to play with and a great friend as well. It will be a great honour to wear his number in the Premier League this year."
He had previously said: "The emotions you feel are pretty obvious. The shock at first of hearing it and hoping it's not actually true. Your mind goes through your experiences together and the time you shared together.
"As a player, he was incredible. A finisher; so clever with the positions he got into, how he used his body.
"I sit next to Adam Webster on the bus when we travel to [Brighton] games and the amount of times I've said to him 'you don't realise how good this guy is, this guy is amazing, I love watching him' and Adam would say 'yeah Milly you told me last week'.
"Every week I love watching the guy as a player and I loved training with him but, more importantly than as a player, as a guy he was incredible. He was someone you could put in any corner of the dressing room and people loved him.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
"Me and him had so many fun days together winding each other up. He's such a stubborn guy like myself. We had so much fun together.
"He was such an amazing family man and just someone you wanted to be around.
"He'll be missed by everyone. He was a truly amazing player and even better guy — an unbelievable guy to be around.
"He'll be missed by everyone who knew him and everyone in the footballing world for sure."
English (US) ·