A lot has been said about Diogo Jota these last few days after he and his brother Andre Silva passed away on Thursday in a freak car accident in Spain, on their way back to Liverpool.

Every single one of the staff members at Anfield Watch has written a tribute to him about what they thought of the player and how his presence at Liverpool impacted them and how they’re feeling.

Likewise, you’ll have seen social media discourse from Liverpool fans, alongside anyone else who was aware of Jota as a player, posting about how they are dealing with the news.

At the heart of the discourse, everyone is very sad about what has happened. The tributes from his teammates and friends have been heartbreaking because we get a glimpse into that he was like off the field and the compilations of his career highlights are tough to watch knowing he’s now gone.

Thoughts about his legacy will be unique depending upon who you ask, but he can certainly be considered an incredible footballer on his day and anyone will be hard pushed not to have sympathy for his family, not least his parents, he wife that he married a mere two weeks ago, and his three children that will be growing up without their father. It’s soul crushing when you consider everything.

But in terms of his sporting legacy, which we feel better equipped to write about, we might have underestimated quite how big an impact he had on people on a global footballing stage.

Of course, you will have seen clubs from around the world offering messages of support and hope to Liverpool and Jota’s former clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers and Porto, which is incredibly nice to see. It’s a selfless act to show that you care and the clubs will welcome the kind words.

But players that Jota will have little to no connection with at all have been pictured acknowledging the news and paying respect in their own way, which is incredibly heartwarming to see.

On Friday, Jesse Motlop – a Carlton player in Aussie Rules AFL Premiership league – decided to celebrate by re-enacting Jota’s gamer celebration where he is sat down on the floor, previously seen when the Portuguese striker scored a last minute winner against Tottenham in a 4-3 contest in 2023.

Whether Motlop is a Liverpool fan is unknown, but he certainly felt empowered to make such a gesture when the Australian public were watching the contest, and so it was a heartfelt move.

Furthermore, on Saturday evening we saw Ousmane Dembele do the same celebration in Paris Saint Germain’s win over Bayern Munich in the FIFA Club World Cup held in the USA. Liverpool played PSG in the Champions League earlier this season and Jota featured in both legs of the tie, so it is understandable that he may want to pay his respects because he knew the player, but nonetheless, it wasn’t expected and it was a particular special way of letting us know that Jota is on people’s minds.

Even outside of football, we saw the band Manchester-based band Oasis pay tribute to Jota when they played ‘Live Forever’ in their concert in Cardiff on Friday – their first show in over 15 years.

🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Tonight, Oasis returned back on stage for the first time since 15 years. During their song ‘Live Forever’ there was a tribute for Diogo Jota. pic.twitter.com/EdRq9adDLc

— The Touchline | Football Coverage (@TouchlineX) July 4, 2025

Liverpool and Manchester are cities that have been involved in historic rivalries for years and so the decision to pay respect to Jota was unexpected, but it was an incredibly selfless gesture to make.

As such, it is clear that whether you’re involved in football or not, the news about his and his brother’s passing has cut through all different news mediums and people are distraught about it.

On a human level, it’s never nice to see that someone’s life has come to an end, but the entire global community has made it their intention to send positive wishes to everyone affected by this situation.

We will all have conversations about his football legacy among other things, but people care that he is gone and that tells you everything about the kind of person that he was that his death has resulted in widespread concern for the welfare of everyone impacted by his loss.