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On July 3, a horrific incident left the footballing community in tears as Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva lost their lives in a car accident in Spain due to the tire blowout of his Lamborghini. The whole footballing world was left in disbelief as just recently he was at the peak of his career as he lifted the Nations League trophy with Portugal and the Premier league title with Liverpool.
In order to pay tribute to Diogo, his former Liverpool team-mate and current Brighton player, James Milner changed his jersey number six and switched to jersey No. 20. The 39-year-old spent multiple years with Jota at Liverpool and both of them won multiple trophies together at the club before the midfielder completed his transfer to Brighton in the year 2023.
It’d be a great honour to wear his number in the Premier League: James Milner
James Milner stated that as soon as he got to know that his team-mate Carlos Baleba was looking to change his jersey and number 20 was available, he decided to take it as a mark of respect and tribute towards his beloved friend Diogo. He further added, “Diogo was an amazing player I was fortunate to play with and a great friend as well. So it’d be a great honour to wear his number in the Premier League.”
James Milner continues to play in the Premier League and will hope to guide Brighton to a more successful campaign in the upcoming season. Meanwhile, the title winners of the previous campaign, Diogo Jota’s Liverpool FC have decided to immortalise the squad jersey no.20 across all the levels, which includes the women's team and the academy as well.
