$57M Forward, Who Was On Klopp's List For 3 Years, Scores Maiden Premier League Goal

Liverpool FC’s newest signing Diogo Jota scored on his Premier League debut when the Reds hosted Arsenal at Anfield on Monday. After Liverpool defeated Arsenal 3-1, Jurgen Klopp revealed Jota had been on his list for three years.

Jota scored the third goal for Liverpool as the Premier League champions maintained their perfect start to the 2020-21 season. Interestingly, Jota’s goal also was Liverpool’s 400th league goal since Klopp’s appointment as the club’s boss in 2015.

Due to an error from Andrew Robertson, French forward Alexandre Lacazette put Arsenal 1-0 up just 25 minutes after the kick-off. Three minutes later, Sadio Mane put the ball at the back of the net after Arsenal shot-stopper Bernd Leno could only push out Mohamed Salah's shot. Just before the half-time, Robertson made up for his earlier mistake by scoring from Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross. "I owed us a goal tonight. Great performance from the lads!!" tweeted Robertson after Liverpool’s 3-1 win at Anfield.

In a post-match conversation with BBC Sport, Liverpool boss Klopp hailed Jota and the rest of the team for putting up an impressive performance that took The Reds to second place behind leaders Leicester City in the Premier League table.

"I'm completely happy with our performance. We played good football, we were flexible, we mixed it up. I'm really pleased for Diogo Jota. Top, top guy. It's so difficult to improve a team like ours. He's been on my list for two or three years, he's here now," added Klopp in the same BBC Sport interview.

After the sensational signing of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich earlier this month, Liverpool announced the arrival of Jota to Anfield from Wolves the very next day. Liverpool signed the 23-year-old Portuguese forward for $57 million on a long-term deal.

Liverpool and Arsenal are set to face off again later this week in the League Cup. Liverpool’s next Premier League fixture is against Aston Villa, which is scheduled to be played Sunday.