Liverpool unveil permanent Anfield sculpture for Diogo Jota and brother on eve of first anniversary

Liverpool have unveiled a permanent memorial sculpture at Anfield to honour Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, with the installation timed to coincide with the eve of the first anniversary of their deaths on 3 July.

Entitled Forever 20, the work was created by sculptor Emma Rodgers and centres on a flowing heart — a direct reference to Jota’s signature goal celebration. Viewed from different angles, the piece also reveals the numbers 20 and 30, the shirt numbers the brothers wore, and incorporates the lyrics to Jota’s terrace song, which has been sung in the 20th minute of every Liverpool match since his death.

Physical tributes left at a temporary memorial over the past year — sections of scarves and shirts — have been set in wax and embedded into the sculpture’s structure and stone plinth. The plinth itself is made from stone sourced from Gondomar, the brothers’ hometown in Portugal. A single flower cast in bronze and a PlayStation controller, a nod to Jota’s well-known post-goal pose, also feature on the piece.

“‘Forever 20’ will serve as a permanent symbol of love, unity and remembrance, and a place where everyone can reflect, remember and pay their respects,” Liverpool said in a statement.

Jota, 28, and Silva, 25, lost their lives in the early hours of 3 July when the Lamborghini they were travelling in left the A-52 road near Palacios de Sanabria, close to Zamora in Spain, and caught fire.

The Portugal international had been a key figure in Liverpool’s Premier League title triumph at the close of the 2024-25 season, having scored 65 goals in 182 appearances across all competitions in five years at the club after joining in 2020.

Their deaths prompted widespread mourning across Merseyside and the broader football world. Portugal’s players carried a personal tribute into the World Cup, with each member of the squad receiving a bracelet bearing their own name alongside Jota’s, presented by Portugal’s Prime Minister.