Wolves captain Conor Coady says he knew "brilliant" Diogo Jota would be an instant hit at Liverpool because of his elite mentality.
Jota joined Wolves on loan from Atletico Madrid in 2017, and played a key role in helping Nuno Espirito Santo's side secure promotion to the Premier League.
Wolves subsequently decided to sign the Portuguese forward on a permanent deal, forking out a reported €14 million (£13m/$17m) fee. Jota went on to score 16 goals in 67 top-flight matches for Wolves, while also laying on six assists, attracting attention from Jurgen Klopp in the process.
The Liverpool boss was able to add the 24-year-old to his Anfield ranks in the summer transfer window, with Liverpool investing an initial £41 million ($55m).
However, few could have predicted Jota would have such an immediate impact on Merseyside. The former Atletico forward has hit nine goals in his first 15 appearances for the Reds across all comeptitions.
The Portugal international has forced his way into Klopp's line-up despite the presence of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane - the trio which has fired Liverpool to Premier League and Champions League glory over the past two seasons.
Jota's instant success with the reigning English champions has not come as a surprise to Coady though, with the England international glowing in his assessment of a former team-mate ahead of their trip to Anfield on Sunday.
“He’s been fantastic. I think every player in our dressing room knew the sort of player he was, we know the sort of character he is, and we know that he would’ve gone there with the right mentality," the Wolves defender told the club's official website.
"His mentality is incredible and we knew he was going to go there and score goals, and honestly, I couldn’t speak more highly of him.
"Anybody who comes into our changing room and then moves on to different things, we always want the most success for them in the world, because they’re fantastic people, and that’s no different with Jota.
“We’re looking forward to coming up against him and hopefully he won’t have too much success on Sunday, but what he’s done since the start of the season has been fantastic, and that’s all credit to him because he’s a brilliant person.”
Coady began his professional career at Liverpool, and is looking forward to coming up against his old club again with Wolves currently sitting just four points behind Klopp's side in the top-flight standings.
“It’s a place where everyone looks forward to going, not just myself, because when you go and play Liverpool, you want to test yourself against the best players," he added. “I’ve been back there a few times over the last couple of years and not got the results we wanted, so it’s important we go there and impose our way of playing and hopefully come away with a good result.”