Celtic Star Will Find It Tough Psychologically – Ex-Attacker On Blow | OneFootball

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Former Scottish top-flight star Tam McManus is of the view that Celtic star Jota will find his long-term injury psychologically challenging.

Celtic sold Jota to Al-Ittihad in 2023, but after failing to impress for the Saudi outfit, he moved to Rennes in the summer only to return to Parkhead in January.

Jota has made eleven appearances for Celtic during his second spell so far, with four goals and one assist to show for it.

The Portuguese winger was taken off in the 35th minute of the game at Tannadice last week due to a knee injury and Brendan Rodgers has revealed that Jota is looking at six to nine months out of action with a cruciate ligament blow.

McManus thinks Jota’s injury is a big blow for Celtic, as the 26-year-old was finding his fitness with the Bhoys after featuring occasionally in the first half of the season with Rennes and admitted that the forward showed glimpses of his quality since his return.

The ex-Scottish Premiership star thinks that the Celtic star will find his long-term injury psychologically hard to deal with and pointed out that it will be a challenge for him to keep himself motivated during the recovery period.

When asked whether he thinks Jota’s injury will be a big blow for Celtic, McManus said on PLZ Soccer (1:25): “Yes, because obviously he has come back and he had not been playing anyway, so he was still finding his feet in terms of getting his fitness.

“He showed flashes of the old Jota in bits and pieces at Celtic, but he still did not look 100 per cent fit but that is a huge blow for them.

“Celtic thought they won a watch; they might have still won a watch by getting him on that money after selling him for £25m. So it is a big blow for the boy.

“I have seen him obviously celebrating last week with the crutches and stuff, so you were hoping it was not that bad, but that is a real bad one for him and psychologically it is going to be tough for him now.

“I have been out myself for a long period of time; it is hard to keep yourself motivated and keep your head up.”

Jota’s injury indicates that he might miss the beginning of next season and Celtic will be looking out for a winger to strengthen their forward department.