Arne Slot pays touching tribute to Diogo Jota
The reds boss has told Jota's family they "will never walk alone"
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot insists everyone associated with the club owes it to Diogo Jota to "stand together and be there for one another".
Slot said they were in "absolute shock" after the 28-year-old forward and his brother Andre Silva were killed in a car crash in Spain in the early hours of Thursday.
"What to say? What can anyone say at a time like this when the shock and the pain is so incredibly raw? I wish I had the words but I know I do not," Slot said in a personal statement published on the club's website.
"All I have are feelings that I know so many people will share about a person and a player we loved dearly and a family we care so much about.
"For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player. He was a loved one to all of us. He was a team-mate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special.
"We need everyone at the club to stand together and to be there for one another. We owe this to Diogo, to Andre Silva, to their wider family and to ourselves."
iverpool said the club was "devastated" by the news and that it was an "unimaginable loss".
The club's chief executive of football and its sporting director said in a joint statement that what happened is a tragedy that "transcends" Liverpool FC.
Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes said the club feel "utterly bereft" and mourn both Jota and Mr Silva equally.
"Of course, we - his Liverpool family - are also struggling to come to terms with what has happened," they continued.
"As his teammates, friends and colleagues, we are consumed by shock and sorrow.
"We know our supporters, his national team, former clubs and teammates and the wider football community share in this grief. This is a tragedy that transcends Liverpool Football Club."
They said they will honour Jota with the "respect and affection he so richly deserves", adding: "For now, we express a love that is filled with deep sorrow and pain. We have lost someone truly irreplaceable."
The club has opened physical and digital books of condolence in the wake of the deaths, and supporters and members of the public can go to the Anfield Road Stand reception area over the coming days to sign a message.
The online book can be found at https://www.liverpoolfc.com/club/diogo-jota-supporter-condolences.