Diogo Jota: Former Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher says performances and results at his old club aren’t exactly important this Anfield season after the death of the Portugal winger last summer.

former Liverpool Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher says the death of Diogo Jota means performances and results at his old club are not as important this season.

Portuguese winger Jota died in a car accident last summer at the age of 28.

Jota scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the Reds, helping them win the FA Cup and League Cup in 2022 and the Premier League title last season.

Liverpool currently occupies sixth place in the English Premier League, 14 points behind leaders Arsenal, in what has been a testing season for the club on the field.

Ireland international Kelleher, who left Liverpool for Brentford last June, touched on the emotional impact of Jota’s death in an interview with The Independent., external

The 27-year-old said that for his former club it is “more about them personally and mentally” than anything else this season.

“Obviously football is a huge sport and people have an opinion, which is normal. People expect you to move on very quickly, and I don’t think that’s the case,” Kelleher said.

“I find it a bit strange and difficult when I hear people talking about Liverpool players and performances, because I don’t think this season is even important in a football sense for them.”

Last November, Reds coach Arne Slott said his team missed Jota as a player and a person.

The comments came following an emotional post-match interview with Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson after Scotland qualified for the World Cup.

Robertson said he was “in a state of turmoil” because he “couldn’t get my teammate Diogo Jota out of my head” in the lead-up to the thrilling win over Denmark that secured his place in the tournament.

Kelleher, who made 67 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool after joining the club’s academy in 2015, said coping with Jota’s death had been “a bit easier” because he was no longer at Anfield.

“I keep in touch with some of the players there, and I have a lot of good friends there. It’s a very difficult time for them, a difficult season, with circumstances that people probably don’t take into consideration too much,” Kelleher explained.

“But maybe it was a little bit easier for me, getting away from him and not being around him every day.

“Individually, it was clear that it was the right thing for me to leave and play for the first team, regardless of the tragedy that happened.”