'Always with a smile on his face' - Warnock pays tribute to Jota - video Dailymotion

Ex-Liverpool star Stephen Warnock reacts to the 'devastating' news of Diogo Jota's death.

Transcript

00:00I just wanted to get your initial reaction to that news.

00:04Probably like everyone else, complete shock.

00:07Sort of one of those moments where you're hoping it's not true.

00:16Yeah, it's completely devastating, isn't it?

00:19I mean, someone who's obviously very highly thought of off the pitch,

00:23which is the most important thing as a person, what's he like as a man?

00:26And everyone that you speak to just says the character of the guy is just incredible.

00:30So chirpy, so bubbly, always with a smile on his face.

00:35I think you saw that on the football pitch as well.

00:38He was arguably one of my favourite players.

00:41When you think about what he did on the pitch, it's everything on the pitch,

00:45but it's the work away from the pitch as well.

00:47It's the little things that he used to do away from the pitch

00:51with integrating into the community and understanding what the city is all about.

00:56And that's why fans love him as well.

01:00There'll just be a shock element more than anything for a long period of time.

01:07And as and when the players do start to meet up again, it'll feel so wrong.

01:13You'll feel an element of guilt that one of your players isn't there.

01:16And, yeah, it's just such a sad moment.

01:21Is there any specific performances or moments or anything like that that really sticks out to you?

01:26I mean, I think there was the Arsenal goal where he, I think he sat Ramsdale on his backside, wasn't it?

01:31I mean, that was just so cheeky and so, so much quality that he had.

01:35Yeah, I think there's probably far too many to really nail one down.

01:42But that one sits out, or stands out, sorry, should I say,

01:46because of how cheeky it was and the quality and how calm he looked in front of goal.

01:53How were you remembering, really, as a player and as a guy?

01:56As we spoke about, I think the type of person, happy, smiling all the time, infectious.

02:06Even when he wasn't in the team, whenever I've been at games, he was a joker amongst the pack as well.

02:14I think you could see that from the outside looking in.

02:16But then as a player, a brilliant goal scorer and instinctive goal scorer

02:22and someone who left everything out on the pitch, I think that's all you can ask for.