Spanish police have said for the first time “everything is pointing” to Liverpool star Diogo Jota driving the Lamborghini supercar he and his football brother André Silva crashed and died in last Thursday.
And they also say tests carried out so far appear to indicate the 28-year-old may have been in excess of the permitted limit on that stretch of the motorway. Jota and his younger sibling, 26, were laid to rest at a heartbreaking funeral on Saturday morning.
In only their second official statement since last week’s horror crash on the A-52 near Zamora close to Spain’s north-west border with Portugal, the Civil Guard said: “The expert report is still being worked on and finalised.
READ MORE: Portugal star's wife forced to clear up confusion over Diogo Jota's brother's death
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“Among other things traffic police from the Zamora branch of the Civil Guard are studying the tread marked by one of the wheels of the vehicle. Everything is also pointing to a possible high excess of speed over the permitted speed on that stretch of the motorway.
“All the tests carried out for the moment point to the driver of the crash vehicle being Diogo Jota. The expert police report when it is finalised will be handed over to a court in Puebla de Sanabria.”
Liverpool players have reported for their first day of pre-season training at Kirkby on Tuesday morning just 72 hours after attending the funeral of their team-mate in Portugal.
Reds stars including Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and new signing Jeremie Frimpong were pictured driving to the first day of preparation for the upcoming campaign with the club still in mourning.
Salah admitted in a heartfelt post on social media that he would find it hard to get his head around Jota not being present when the players reconvened.
"I am truly lost for words," he wrote last week. "Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break. Team mates come and go but not like this. It’s going to be extremely difficult to accept that Diogo won’t be there when we go back."
Head coach Arne Slot said the “sense of shock is absolute”, adding: “He was a loved one to all of us.”
Former manager Jurgen Klopp, who brought Jota to Anfield in 2020, wrote on Instagram : "This is a moment where I struggle. There must be a bigger purpose, but I can’t see it.
The deaths of Jota and Andre Silva have shocked the footballing world with heartbreaking tributes paid from across the game.
Liverpool's first friendly of the summer was scheduled to be against Preston North End at Deepdale this Sunday. However, a decision regarding whether the match will take place has not yet been made with head coach Arne Slot set to speak with his players about whether they want to play or not.
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