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Joao Felix said on Monday that Portugal team-mate and close friend Diogo Jota will “forever be a part of football history” following the Liverpool star’s death aged 28.
Jota was killed along with his brother Andre Silva when their Lamborghini went off the road in northern Spain on July 3.
Just 11 days prior to the accident, the Portuguese forward had married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children.
The Premier League remembered Jota over the weekend in a series of moving tributes.
Adding his voice to the outpouring of grief across the football world, Felix looked visibly moved as he spoke about his good friend and international colleague.
Felix, who was among the mourners at the brothers’ funeral, said: “Diogo to me was one of my best friends in the national team, he was always part of our mini group in the national team, those of us who were always together.
“I knew his family, especially his parents, an incredible family.”
Speaking in Hong Kong, where Joao Felix is with his new team, Al Nassr, for this week’s Saudi Super Cup, the 25-year-old added: “I think he will forever be a part of football history, he will remain in the hearts of those who were already close to him.
“After that day, every time we go on the field, we will remember him and play in part for him.”
The attacker Felix joined fellow Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo at Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr late last month, moving from Chelsea in a reported deal worth up to 43.7 million pounds ($58 million).
Felix, who has also played for Benfica, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, and AC Milan, will reportedly earn $10 million per year.
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