He had a lengthy spell on the sidelines last season after picking up a rib injury against Chelsea early in the campaign, but when he returned he demonstrated his sure touch in front of goal and the priceless knack of being in the right place at the right time.
Salah understandably claimed more headlines, but Jota’s goals were often key and he was a striker always feared by defences because of his finishing prowess.
Having outgrown his local club Gondomar, in the Porto area, he moved to Pacos de Ferreira aged 16.
But his burgeoning career was at risk a year later, when a heart problem was detected during pre-season tests.
Just as he did in front of goal, Jota stayed calm.
“I knew it could mean quitting football, but I didn’t believe for a second that it was going to happen,” he said in 2021.
He missed the entire pre-season and the start of the 2014-15 campaign before being cleared to return.
His drive was evident from the fact he approached the youth team co-ordinator at Pacos de Ferreira, Gilberto Andrade, asking for help to learn a foreign language.
Then 17, he told Andrade he hoped to play abroad one day and wanted to be ready for the opportunity.
His first move abroad was fleeting, joining Atletico Madrid in 2016 before swiftly being loaned to Porto, where his brother Andre Silva, who also died in the crash, was a youth player.
Jota then came to prominence in England when he joined Wolves, initially on loan, from Atletico in July 2017. The move was made permanent as he showed his class, scoring 44 goals in 131 games at Molineux before the switch to Liverpool.
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