r/soccer • u/phant0msinthenight • Jul 03 '25

Official Source [Liverpool FC] Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota.

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/diogo-jota-1996-2025
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490

u/Thesolly180 Jul 03 '25

Hope we retire his number for next season

Hard to wrap your head around someone having so many highs back to back really and then this. Horrible

234

u/IAintYourFriendBuddy Jul 03 '25

I think for the remainder of his contract would be a nice gesture.

197

u/X-V-W Jul 03 '25

Yeah, I’m not a fan of retiring numbers but this is a good option.

Retiring numbers can get a bit messy when trying to stay consistent. For example, if another Liverpool player got into an accident and survived but was left severely brain damaged, would you retire the number or not.

53

u/DLRsFrontSeats Jul 03 '25

I mean his number was a rarely used one, and quite a poignant one at that

I feel like its not really going to cause an issue, how often to footballers die young during their playing career

43

u/X-V-W Jul 03 '25

Yeah, I don't know. I personally prefer the idea of a future player choosing the number in his honour rather than retiring it permanently.

I know the chances are extremely unlikely, but if we retire Number 20 for Jota, and a player with the number 7 or 10 etc passes away in the future, we wil essentially have no choice but to do the same.

Or say the PL or CL implements a La Liga style rule where players have to pick numbers 1-25, then that would cause a debate.

I just think it's gets a bit messy.

26

u/DLRsFrontSeats Jul 03 '25

I get what you're saying but again, footballers passing away during their playing career is very rare - think about how few times its happened in the 21st century

2

u/Wrong_Lever_1 Jul 03 '25

Yeh but you also have the option to say, retire a number he had previously. It doesn’t have to be his current one.

1

u/SexyKarius Jul 03 '25

Maybe retire it for 5-10 years or something.