THE SLOTTER JOTA

After an injury-hit season, the Liverpool man struck seven goals in his last nine games to remind everyone how he earned his nickname. He tells FFT about his World Cup heartbreak, the time he caused Jurgen Klopp to pull a hamstring, why Cristiano Ronaldo won't challenge him to a game of FIFA... and what comes next

- Chris Flanagan

Diogo Jota didn't anticipate the carnage he'd unleashed in Liverpool's technical area when he bagged a dramatic winner against Tottenham in April.

In the space of the next 10 seconds, not only had the whole of Anfield descended into the kind of fervour borrowed from the Portuguese forward's dreams, but Jurgen Klopp had landed himself in hot water for celebrating angrily in front of the fourth official - and pulled a hamstring in the process. It was a celebration that the Liverpool boss would rather forget, though he could hardly blame Jota for the injury.

"He did, actually!" Jota tells FourFourTwo now, laughing as he reveals his manager's tongue-in-cheek reaction. "I can't tell you what he said, but when he saw me the next day, he pointed one finger at me..." We can probably guess which finger that was. The 26-year-old's own celebration was surprisingly tranquil, considering he'd just scored in front of the Kop to give Liverpool a 4-3 victory in stoppage time, a minute after Spurs had drawn level having trailed 3-0. It was an occasion he'd craved for years.

"For me, it was a great moment," explains the man that Klopp recruited from Wolves in September 2020. "I did score winners at Anfield in my first season, but there was no crowd. Everybody was telling me, 'Oh, you've just scored a winner in front of the Kop - it would have been amazing if the fans were here'. I needed to wait a couple more years to actually get that feeling. Having that moment was really special - I'll remember it for a long time.

"I didn't even notice the manager injuring himself at the time. When I arrived in the dressing room, I already had a few friends sending me the video link of him pulling his hamstring after my goal. You cannot write a script like that. I think it didn't bother him, because it was a key moment for the team. It's a good story to tell!"