Diogo Jota dies aged 28: Wolves chairman Jeff Shi describes Portuguese as 'one of top three signings' after death of forward

Wolverhampton Wanderers chairman Jeff Shi has described Diogo Jota as one of the club's top three signings made by Fosun International.

On Thursday, the 28-year-old was killed in a car accident alongside his brother Andre Silva in the Spanish province of Zamora.

The world of football has been in mourning over the death of the Liverpool star and his sibling, who played for Portuguese side Penafiel.

Tributes have poured in for the pair, a number of Jota's former Wolves teammates having taken to social media to react to the news.

In an official post on the Wolves website, Shi has also spoken on Jota, just days after he revealed that he had regrets over selling the player to Liverpool.

'One of our best signings'

A year after their arrival at Molineux, Wolves pulled off one of the coup of the 2017 summer transfer window by attracting then-Atletico Madrid attacker Jota to the West Midlands for a Championship campaign.

© Imago

Three years later, Jota had contributed 44 goals and 19 assists from 131 appearances, winning the Championship title and helping Wolves achieve Europa League football.

Speaking on the passing of the playmaker, Shi said: "Diogo was a top player and, for me, one of the top three players in the whole 10 years that Fosun and I have been here.

“But he was also a nice boy who was very warm, very nice and always understanding, but he was also demanding. As a top player, you sometimes have to demand your teammates to do well, and although he was never a player on the pitch to shout, you could always see what he wanted from you.

“He was a very positive and optimistic guy and he could even give the chairman confidence, but he was a guy with very clear ideas. He was smart, intelligent and also very decisive in his actions. I feel he had the potential to become a very good CEO or entrepreneur in the future because he was very clear with what he wanted to do.

“Diogo will be sorely missed by everyone here at Wolves and our thoughts go out to his family and friends.”

Before his passing on Thursday, Jota had just won the Premier League title with Liverpool and lifted the UEFA Nations League trophy with Portugal.