Ben Gannon-Doak has revealed that he considers a shirt he swapped with former Liverpool team-mate Diogo Jota as one of his most cherished possessions. The Scotland international joined AFC Bournemouth in an initial £20m deal last summer, calling time on his three-year stint at Anfield.
Jota's shirt holds special meaning
The 20-year-old’s Reds exit came only a few weeks after the tragic passing of the Portuguese and his brother, Andre Silva, in a car crash when travelling across Spain in order to return to England for the start of pre-season.
Gannon-Doak represented Scotland at this summer’s World Cup, and swapped shirts with Cherries team-mate Rayan following their 3-0 loss to Brazil. But when opening up about other shirts he has obtained during his career, the winger admitted Jota’s jersey is his favourite in his collection as he revealed how he paid tribute to his former Liverpool team-mate and the influence he had on him during their shared time at Anfield.
Memories of Diogo Jota
“I had to speak broken English just to ask for Rayan’s top,” he told afcb.co.uk. “But he is a top lad and I wanted his shirt. All the tops I have got from games are hanging on a clothes rack in my room. They are just there on display. I have about 20.
“My favourite one is Diogo Jota. His Portugal one. He and I swapped. I have a John McGinn shirt. I have Gvardiol’s Croatia one, Tsimikas’s Greece one. Just people who I’m mates with or I’ve played with before. But Diogo is my favourite one.
“I wasn’t really as close with him as the older players would have been but I think, going into that squad at a young age, apart from Andy Robertson, it was probably him who I spoke to the most, looked after me and gave me advice.
“When what happened, happened, I looked back and knew I had his top sitting in a box somewhere. I wanted to get it hung up and it's special to have that.”
World Cup dream
Gannon-Doak featured in all three of Scotland’s matches at the World Cup as they suffered a group-stage exit. Despite the disappointment, the Scot admits it was a ‘dream come true’ to represent his country at the tournament. He shared he was even a little starstruck when he found himself facing his boyhood hero, Neymar, in Scotland’s loss to Brazil.
“It was a dream come true,” he said. “I was a bit disappointed by the way we went out and things like that but I think, personally, I enjoyed the games and gave a decent account of myself.
“I wish I could have done more to try to get us through, but the experience was brilliant. It was still a dream come true and an absolute privilege to play for Scotland in a World Cup.
“I’ll be honest, that (when Neymar came on) is probably the first time I have ever been star struck by a player coming on the pitch. Playing against these people you look at growing up. You play against them and it’s just business as usual.
“But when he came on, for a split second I was like ‘whoa, that’s Neymar coming on’ it was a bit surreal. But as soon as the ball was in play, I forgot about him.”
