Liverpool has made a pre-season decision to postpone their return following the tragic passing of Diogo Jota.

Liverpool has postponed the gradual return of players for pre-season training as the club grieves the loss of Diogo Jota.

In an official statement, Liverpool expressed their devastation over the “unimaginable loss” of Jota, who tragically died in a road traffic accident early Thursday morning near Zamora, in northwestern Spain.

Jota was traveling with his younger brother, Andre Silva, when their car veered off the road due to a tyre blowout while overtaking another vehicle. The vehicle subsequently caught fire on the A-52 motorway in Cernadilla, just ten miles from the Portuguese border.

At 28 years old, Jota was en route to Santander to catch a ferry back to southern England ahead of Liverpool’s pre-season training starting Monday, as he had been advised against flying following lung surgery.

Miguel Goncalves, a respiratory physiotherapist, was treating Jota for a collapsed lung and noted that he was on the path to a full recovery. “The base of his right lung had collapsed slightly, but with post-surgery physiotherapy, he was doing exceptionally well. When I left him yesterday, he was pain-free and ready to return to Liverpool,” Goncalves told Record. “He was excited, confident about his recovery, and eager for the next season.”

As confirmed by a BBC report, Liverpool players, originally scheduled to return from their summer break on Friday for initial physical tests at the training ground, will now return on Monday in a phased manner.

Arne Slot’s team is set to play their first pre-season match against Championship side Preston North End on Sunday, July 13.

The funeral for Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, will take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time in Gondomar, Portugal, at the Matriz de Gondomar church, located 33 kilometers from Porto. A wake will occur on Friday at 4 p.m. local time.

Local priest Jose Manuel Macedo confirmed that the wake will be held at Sao Cosme Chapel, approximately 30 minutes from Jota’s hometown of Porto. According to the Daily Mail, the service will start at 3 p.m.

The following day, a funeral mass will be held at Igreja Matriz de Gondomar, near the church where Jota recently married. “The bodies of the brothers will arrive at the resurrection chapel for the wake, followed by the funeral at 10 a.m. on Saturday,” Macedo told CNN Portugal. “We’re here to celebrate their lives and share in the pain and Christian hope.”