‘He wanted…’ – Pundit shares Diogo Jota’s message to Michael Edwards upon signing for Liverpool
Tim Sherwood has revealed that, in a conversation with Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s former sporting director told him about the firm message he got from Diogo Jota upon the winger’s arrival at Anfield. The Portugal forward joined from Wolves in a £41m deal in September 2020 (BBC Sport), when the front three of Mo Salah, Bobby […]
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Tim Sherwood has revealed that, in a conversation with Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s former sporting director told him about the firm message he got from Diogo Jota upon the winger’s arrival at Anfield.
The Portugal forward joined from Wolves in a £41m deal in September 2020 (BBC Sport), when the front three of Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane seemed virtually unassailable in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI.
However, that didn’t deter the 27-year-old from joining the then-Premier League champions, a point he made quite clear to the man who oversaw his transfer from Molineux.
Speaking to Premier League Productions (21 January, 20:40) after Jota scored twice in Liverpool’s 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Sunday, Sherwood said: “In the absence of Mo Salah, they are all stepping up. Jota has been an unbelievable signing for them.
“I remember speaking to Michael Edwards, who was the sporting director there when he went to speak to Jota to bring him from Wolves. He was like saying to Michael, ‘I am not playing second fiddle to the three you have got up top’, which we know was Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah at the time.
“He wanted to score goals and wanted to be the main man. He is certainly turning into that now because he has been outstanding.”
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It spoke volumes of Jota’s confidence that, when he joined Liverpool in 2020, he seemed so assured that he wasn’t going there to accept a backup role to Salah, Firmino and Mane.
The Egyptian is the only member of that trio who’s still at Anfield, although three other senior forwards have arrived in the meantime to ensure that competition for starting berths in the Reds’ attack remains fervent.
The Portugal winger did his case no harm by scoring 13 goals in his first season under Klopp, a tally which’d have easily been higher were it not for a three-month injury layoff (Transfermarkt), and that campaign was no fluke either.
Jota is now on 52 goals in 135 Liverpool games (Transfermarkt), and the manner in which he took his brace against Bournemouth yesterday told the world that he’s a natural born predator – so much so that Jamie Carragher posed the question as to whether the 27-year-old has been the club’s best finisher in the Premier League era.
The Reds’ number 20 will be heavily relied upon over the next month or so in the wake of this evening’s injury setback regarding Salah, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that the former Wolves man can rise to the challenge.
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