2 weeks ago
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Jurgen Klopp revealed Diogo Jota's death left him speechless as he described the late Liverpool forward as a "very special young man."
Jota died alongside his brother in a car crash in Spain as he journeyed back to the United Kingdom ahead of the start of pre-season training with Liverpool.
The tragic incident sent the soccer world into mourning, with former Liverpool boss Klopp among those who were left in shock by the news.
Recalling how he found out about Jota's passing in an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Klopp said: "I got a message in the morning - ‘boss, I have bad news.’
"Then I got a message from a friend from Liverpool. I could not believe it. It was not possible. I heard it and I knew what it meant, but I could not believe it.
"The whole story, I saw all the pictures from the wedding and the boys were there. I know exactly where I was, I know exactly how long I sat there without speaking a word.
"It’s [like losing] a family member, it’s exactly like that."
Klopp said that Liverpool could never have imagined that it would have to contend with such an incident in the off-season, and suggested that it had an impact on Liverpool's plans ahead of the start of the season.
"You cannot be prepared to deal with things like that," Klopp said. "Today we talk about the transfer window that would have looked completely different.
"You have to sort the things that you never expected you would have had to think about. Everybody wanted this boy to spend the next 10 years at Liverpool, all-around player, can play all positions, football smart."
He added: "I cannot imagine the dressing room without him, it’s so hard, it’s so hard. I still cannot properly speak about it. It was an incredible shock. That’s for the boys as well.
"Quick thing, we don’t speak about it because otherwise some bad journalist will make a quick story about what it is and how it means.
"Nobody at Liverpool will ever use it as an excuse [for the team's recent form], but it is the situation. You walk every day in this room where he was omnipresent.
"To talk about him, he was so close with James Milner, they’re not the same age group and have nothing the same. On the same, he was so close with Kostas Tsimikas. That’s like moon and mars.
"Dealing with that on a personal level - not easy, impossible."
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