Mohamed Salah has referred to losing friend and team-mate Diogo Jota when announcing his Liverpool exit on Tuesday evening. The 33-year-old released an emotional video on Tuesday evening to confirm he will leave Anfield this summer after nine years.
Salah will go down as one of the Reds' greatest-ever players, having scored 189 goals and provided 92 assists since joining Liverpool from Roma in June 2017. The winger has won numerous major trophies during his time on Merseyside, including two Premier League titles, the Champions League, an FA Cup and two League Cups.
The Egypt international has, however, like most of his Liverpool team-mates, endured tragedy after Jota's death in a car crash last summer. The Portuguese passed away alongside his brother Andre in the early hours of July 3 in Zamora, Spain, as he travelled back to Liverpool for pre-season training.
Salah has paid tribute to the former forward - mentioning his passing as part of the announcement that he would be leaving the Reds.
He said: "We celebrated victory, we won the most important trophies and we fought together through the hardest time in our life."
Salah broke down over Jota in front of the Kop End following Liverpool's 4-2 win against Bournemouth in the opening game of the season.
He began to tear up as the crowd at Anfield were heard chanting Jota's name on an emotional night last August.
In a candid interview with the Men In Blazers Media Network back in September, Salah revealed how he became overwhelmed with emotion and was unable to hold back his tears in front of the crowd.
He said: "It was quite tricky for me because I didn't prepare myself for that.
"Usually, I clap for the fans after the game to tell them, like, thank you for coming for the game. But then once I stood in front of the Kop, they were singing for Diogo.
"Then my emotions came and in my mind (I was thinking about him). Then you just (try) to handle it.
"But then you can see, many people in a Kop also are like showing their emotions or what they feel. So then you start to break down a little bit."
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