KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Diogo Jota: Liverpool forward signs new deal until 2027

Jota has won 27 caps for Portugal

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota has signed a new contract keeping him at the club until 2027.

The Portugal international, 25, has scored 34 goals in 85 games since joining from Wolves in 2020 for £41m.

He scored 21 goals last season as Liverpool won the FA Cup and EFL Cup and finished as runners-up in the Premier League and Champions League.

"It's obviously from the club's perspective proof of the belief in myself as a player," Jota said.

"Since I arrived two years ago I established myself as an important player in this team - that's what I wanted from the beginning."

Jota, whose current deal was due to expire in 2025, has missed pre-season with a hamstring injury and said he would be out for "a few more weeks".

"When you fight for everything, like we did last year, you just want to do it again and to do it better, because it's possible," he said.

"That drive is in me and I know it's in my team-mates and all the staff. We have everything to fight for those titles out there."

Manager Jurgen Klopp said: "As a striker who can play on the wing, he gives us so many options and since he came to Liverpool he has improved so much.

"I have said before that Diogo is the player we hoped he would be but also a little bit better, so long may this continue."

Last month, Mohamed Salah signed a new three-year contract following the departure of fellow forward Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich.

It has only been two years since Jota joined Liverpool but this deal is a reward for how he has progressed and the impact he has made since signing from Wolves.

Liverpool have not only extended the length of his contract but improved the terms of the deal he was on as a reward and belief in his continuing development.

A player who can operate in a forward role or as a wide attacker, he not only provides goals and assists, but also has the kind of high work rate that manager Jurgen Klopp demands of his players.

New Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward oversaw Jota's new deal on the back of positive talks with the player's agent, Jorge Mendes, during pre-season.

Ward has certainly had a busy summer. He played a key role in the club signing Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah's contract renewal.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/62394172

My first thought on this was 'Great News'...then I thought this is going to rub Bobby Firmino up the wrong way?

Bobby's contract ends next summer and Juventus have been sniffing around. Surely it would have been better to wait until the window closes before doing anymore contract extensions? Juventus have mooted to have offered 19m for Bobby, now that may seem a decent price for a player with one year left of his contract, however Bobby is such an integral player to the squad.
His quality is undoubted and when he is on it, he is sublime. He is also a great professional and role model within the squad.
Replacing Bobby will cost a hellavu lot more than 19m and it would make sense if we extended his contract for another year or 2. His contribution to the club has been phenomenal in his time with us, both he Salah and Mane got us relevant again as an attacking force to be reckoned with.

Now if you look at other players at the club in a similar position to Bobby, I wouldn't bat an eyelid at if they left today...Ox or Keita! This is because we know where we are at with both those 2 players who when they play, weaken us. With Bobby he still has the ability to make a difference even if he is older at 30, which is now becoming not much of the stigma of a few years ago as players are looking after themselves much better, extending their playing times.

Bobby maybe able to entice the club to offer him an extension if he retired from International Football. At the moment he doesn't get a look in with Brazil because of the younger players ahead of him in the pecking order. With the WC in Qatar this Nov/Dec, the club may feel having the likes of Bobby along with Salah not partaking would give us an advantage after the WC break with them being fresher.

I hope we can offer Bobby a contract extension, I'd hate to see him leave because I believe he has a lot more to give us.

Diogo has earned his salt thus far in the Premier League this season, however he's proof that signing a player and filling a hole doesn't happen (look at Chelsea) unless something happens to the core belief of the club's stature. Discussing with other reds, he's not the archetypal "Klopp player" (but I suspect this is a term the boss has got off his back under American ownership) nevertheless in ranking him, I think we'd all agree by and large he's worth the price (41m) paid to Wolves (who have done pretty well to reinvest). Whether he'll nature become Europa league fodder much like Jesus and Nketiah under Arteta, remains to be seen. Maybe there is too many players in the Premier League who are journeymen, I'm not sure on what other fans views are on that comment.

Speaking of Arsenal, they are probably our closest rivals. Signing Leonardo Trossard (who we know is a number 10) with Odegaard in their side (formerly a ten) Arteta seems to have created a re-emergence of the magic 10 role. Elliot Smith-Rowe is also available to them, he's a bright attacking midfielder - possibly not as bright as Klopp's Jones but many a Gunner would argue he is.

There is also Maddison, Musiala and Jude who are helping make it a classic role. Jota is a Premiership ready made player (no disrespect to the work Klopp has done with him) if Liverpool were to revert to not playing him on the left I wonder (like with our former forward Origi) how he would perform if his poaching abilities were put into question. However realistically, I understand that's how Liverpool have really ever committed to playing.