A tearful John Aldridge paid a touching tribute to Diogo Jota in the wake of his tragic passing last week, and admitted he has been able to think of little else since the devastating news broke on Thursday.

The eternal flame at Anfield is a permanent, sobering reminder that for all Liverpool’s triumphs, tragedy has a habit of shadowing the club like the cruellest of imposters.

Born in Porto and raised in Gondomar, Jota was not just a footballer from the area, he was one of them. His path to the top, which started on a degraded astroturf pitch behind the main stand at SC Gondomar, is etched into the memory of a community that never stopped claiming him as their own.