Jota return rumours nothing more than wishful thinking

The Celtic Star

·21 December 2024

Jota return rumours nothing more than wishful thinking

These Jota returning rumours are nothing more than wishful thinking amongst the Celtic support…

Jota of Celtic celebrates after he scores his team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Kilmarnock and Celtic at on August 14, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Superstar from Portugal

Jota, our former Superstar from Portugal, has been in the headlines the day or so due to the fact that he has reportedly asked for a transfer from current club Rennes.

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Jota only signed for the Brittany club in August 2024 for a reported fee of £8 million from Saudi side Al-Ittihad. The Portuguese winger of course endured a difficult time in the Gulf State after his bumper £25 million move from Celtic in the summer of 2023. He was earning an absolute fortune so the pain will be worth it evey time he looks at his bank balance.

Jota of Celtic celebrates with teammates after scoring during the UEFA Champions League group F match between RB Leipzig and Celtic FC at Red Bull Arena on October 05, 2022. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)

A massive financial hit

The fact that the Saudi side took a massive financial hit on the fee they paid for the player shows that he wasn’t exactly hitting the heights in the cash rich state, and that has followed him to France as he hasn’t been producing the form that we all know he is capable of, as his record of one goal in nine appearances suggests.

Naturally with the transfer window due to open Jota has been linked with a move to Celtic, although admittedly that’s just down to lazy journalism amongst the hacks and also understandable wishful thinking from some Celtic supporters.

Joao Neves Filipe Jota of Celtic celebrates scoring the second goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Rangers FC at on September 03, 2022 Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

As good as it would be…

As good as it would be to see Jota come back to Paradise, I doubt he’s a target for Brendan Rodgers. Not only would he command a big fee and salary, he wouldn’t be guaranteed a starting spot due to the form of Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn. Be truthful and ask yourself if you would drop either for Jota? No would be the right answer.

Maybe if one of them was moved on then yes, but I just can’t see a dramatic return for our former Superstar from Portugal.

Jota of Celtic celebrates after scoring their team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on September 03, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Nicolas Kuhn Celtic’s next big sellable asset

Nicolas Kuhn is of course having a wonderful season and may even soon earn himself a call-up to the Germany squad ahead of the World Cup campaign. He has been a stand-out for Celtic in the Champions League and that has caused significant interest in the Celtic winger who could be Celtic’s next big sellable asset.

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s third goal with teammates during the Premier Sports Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

That of course would make the Jota back to Celtic story more likely but until then I’ll be filing it under W for wishful thinking. Hope I’m wrong though.

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