Diogo Jota has come a long way since his early days as a Pacos de Ferreira youth player and having proved himself at Liverpool, he could be set to play a vital role for Jurgen Klopp amid Sadio Mane's uncertain future.
Mane, who joined Liverpool in 2016, is being heavily linked with a move to Europe giants Bayern Munich this summer, though their initial bid of £25.5m fell below Liverpool's asking price with Mane said to valued at closer to £42.5m. Although it has been reported that the 30-year-old is ready for a "new experience after many special years with Reds," he has yet not communicate his feelings to the club, and currently has one year left on his deal.
But should the Reds lose their star, the club may want to act smart and not turn transfer market this summer, given their squad's depth. Jota's potential could be sufficient to step in and fill the void with the Portuguese becoming prolific for Klopp since his £12million move from Wolves in 2020.
This term, he has registered 15 goals and six assists in his 35 Premier League appearances - an ability to get crucial opening goal in games. And for the first time in his career, he has surpassed his own expectations, reaching 20 goals in a single season.
In 85 appearances since joining the Merseyside club, he has scored 34 goals, illustrating his improvement since his initial playing days for Pacos. His former coach, Vasco Seabra believes his awareness of his own weaknesses has helped his growth, as he recently told Mirror Sport.
He said: "He was aware of his weaknesses [at the age of 16], the things he was less good at and I think that self-knowledge of knowing what he wasn’t too good at and was good at, helped his growth.
HAVE YOUR SAY!! Do you believe Diogo Jota is the man to fill Sadio Mane's place should he depart this summer? Have your say in the comment section below...
"His winning and competitive personality, being very ambitious in the way he tries to perfect and achieve things, has allowed him to reach this level in his career that many wouldn’t have thought he would achieve.
"I believe he has only achieved that due to the facet he has - the never giving up and always ambition to becoming better and doing what is essential to get better, and that, he already showed at 16."
The 25-year-old's competitiveness is also a key factor that Seabra believes is crucial for him to lead Klopp's side in the potential departure of Mane. He added: "Jota is very, very competitive. For him, every exercise in training was to win, he does not accept not giving his all in everything that he does.
"I think that shows a lot of maturity, he was quite young when he joined Pacos at 16 but was very mature for his age and knew exactly what he wanted, he worked hard to achieve those things. I believe he has all the characteristics that matches Liverpool’s game, and the coach they have.
"A team that likes to constantly attack their opposition and I think that is Jota’s profile. It’s exactly what Jota is - gives his all at everything and is always willing to help his team."
While the Portugal international may face a huge task next season, he has undoubtedly come a long way and is prepared to continue proving his worth playing the biggest role of his career yet.
