Chelsea squad to give part of Club World Cup bonus to Diogo Jota's family
Chelsea won the tournament, hosted in the United States, with a 3-0 victory over the European champions Paris Saint-Germain on July 13, which helped to secure the club about £85million in prize money.
Chelsea are understood to have allocated about £11.4million as a bonus for the players who took part, but the squad and the club have agreed to donate a share to the family of Jota.
Jota, the Liverpool forward, died alongside his brother André Silva — who was also a footballer, for Portuguese second-tier side Penafiel — in a car accident in the Spanish province of Zamora on July 3, two days before Chelsea faced Palmeiras in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup.
The incident affected the Chelsea squad, particularly the forward Pedro Neto, who was known to be close to Jota. He was a former team-mate of the 28-year-old at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and also for the Portugal national team. Neto later said he wanted to win the tournament for his friend.
'Diogo immediately stood out to me when I came to England,' he said last month. 'I was very young and arriving in a new country, and he was one of the key players at Wolves. But he helped me and my family a lot, and I learnt so much from him about life and football.'
Jota made 182 appearances for Liverpool, and scored 65 goals, after joining the club from Wolves in 2020.
Liverpool have retired the No20 shirt at all levels at the club, while the squad will have a 'Forever 20' emblem printed on to their shirts this season. The club also unveiled plans for a memorial at Anfield last month, while further tributes are expected to be paid on Friday night when Liverpool, the Premier League champions, host Bournemouth in the opening game of the new season.
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