Former Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper and football pundit Matt Murray has been sharing his thoughts on Diogo Jota amid his recent move to Liverpool.
Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Murray had this to say on the winger and how his exit will impact the current Wolves team moving forward.
He said: “I think Diogo Jota will be a massive miss to the squad. I feel that right at the start when Nuno [Espirito Santo] came in, there was the likes of Jota coming in, [Ruben] Neves, players like that and I think people thought they were just there to be in the shop window quickly and then move on.
“They’ve all done brilliantly, given Wolves fans amazing times, consolidated them in the Premier League but you have to balance the books.
“Yes I was surprised that he was allowed to leave but when Liverpool come knocking, you can’t hold them back. It’s a massive profit but he will be missed because of not only for what he brings with his goals but his work rate, his pressing and he can play up top with Raul Jimenez or he can play as one of the two in behind Raul Jimenez.
“[He’ll be a] big miss but £45 million is a decent return on what we spent [for Jota].”
Wolves first signed Jota on a loan deal back in the 2017 summer transfer window from Spanish club Atletico Madrid. A year later, Wolves signed the winger on a permanent deal for a fee of £12.6 million.
Overall, the 23-year-old made a total of 131 appearances for Wolves across all competitions, in which he managed to score 44 goals and provide 19 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
As Murray mentioned, the deal to send Jota to Liverpool was reportedly worth a total of £41 million, which could rise to £45 million with add-ons.
The winger has already got his career at the Merseyside club off to a good start after he scored on his home debut in Liverpool’s recent 3-1 Premier League win over Arsenal earlier in the week.
Looking at how much the Midlands club paid for Jota a few years ago and how much they managed to sell him to Liverpool for, this just highlights the impact he had at the club during his time there and the massive profit Wolves have managed to make on him.