Jack Wilshere has insisted that Diogo Jota’s transfer value has significantly increased after his stunning form for Liverpool this season.
Liverpool signed Jota from Wolves in 2020 in a deal worth £41m, which could rise to £45m through add-ons.
The 25-year-old Portuguese forward enjoyed a strong start to life at Anfield after he scored 13 times in 31 appearances in his debut season for the Reds.
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And Jota, who has been battling for minutes against Roberto Firmino, has already scored 12 times in 23 appearances for Liverpool in the current campaign.
Former Arsenal midfielder Wilshere believes that Jota would now fetch “£70-odd” million in the transfer market.
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👏 “Firmino would drop deep, but Jota has that goal scoring knack.” 💰 “He’s probably worth £70M now.” Jack Wilshere & Darren Bent are big fans of #LFC’s @DiogoJota18 🔥
“I think he had something different in terms of when they play with Firmino up top, Firmino would drop deep but he seems to be a little different to that,” he told talkSPORT.
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“He’s a goalscorer, he has that knack, Benty would know more about it when you’re in the right place at the right time.
“[He’s worth] £70-odd [million] I’d say -- he’s [at] a great age [25 years old].”
Darren Bent praised Jota’s desire to oust Firmino from the starting XI and believes the former Wolves star works best with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane this season.
“You got to say again, well played to Liverpool the recruitment because I always thought he was a good player,” he said.
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“When they first signed him, he was on absolute fire, wasn’t he? Then he had that injury and it kind of railroaded him a little bit.
“But he’s come back this season fantastic and, at one stage, it was almost like blasphemy that anyone could upset that front three, Firmino, Salah and Mane.
“It was always them three, whoever comes in is going to have to play backup but he’s gone in there and shown no fear.
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“He’s been up for the challenge, he’s gone in there and thought, ‘I believe in my own ability, I can oust one of them.’
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“Now you look at that front three and you think who’s probably the best? It’s probably Jota, Mane and Salah.”
Wilshere continued: “It’s a good problem to have and they can mix it up but at the moment when he’s in that type of form, I don’t think you can drop him.”
Liverpool, who are three points adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester City, return to action on Sunday against Leicester City at the King Power.
Featured Image Credit: PA/talkSPORTTopics: Jack Wilshere, Diogo Jota, Liverpool, Premier League, England, Football