Jota scenes arrive in Saudi Arabia and they are likely to surprise Celtic fans
Former Celtic winger Jota has been in the headlines ever since his departure from the club this summer.
The Portuguese attacker, a huge player for Celtic over the past two seasons, departed the club for Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad in a £25m deal in early July.
Jota‘s departure was met with sadness by many Hoops supporters, although the financial reality was that the move made sense for all parties. He was off to earn a fortune and play alongside talent like Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho. We couldn’t begrudge him that.
However, a fair bit has happened since then and it now seems like the former Benfica man will be leaving his new club after a matter of weeks.
Turkish side Fenerbahce are among the clubs linked with Jota and it seems like a matter of when and not if he will be moving on.
It was, then, a surprise to hear of him netting a big league goal for Al Ittihad on Monday. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were away to Al Wehda and preserved their 100% winning start to the season with a 3-0 victory.
Jota didn’t start the match but replaced reigning Ballon d’Or winner Benzema after 42 minutes. He struck his side’s second goal, running down the left hand side and squeezing an effort beyond the goalkeeper. It was his first strike for his new club.
Without knowing the full story in Jeddah, it did seem like Jota was a complete outcast just counting down the days until his departure.
An exit seems the most likely scenario. But perhaps his contribution on Monday night will have convinced his new club that he has something to offer.
If they require further evidence of that, they could watch virtually any of his Celtic displays over the past two seasons.
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Hot track- Italian reporter makes claim over Celtic’s £6m target
Mathias Kvistgaarden could be a hot track for Celtic over the next few days.
With Brendan Rodgers repeatedly requesting more experienced, first team ready signings the arrival of a 21-year-old that scored once in 21 appearances for Brondby seems to be quite a stretch.
Rodgers has Kyogo Furuhashi as his first choice striker and Oh Hyeon-gyu with half a season’s experience of Scottish football as back up. The Celtic boss has also spoken of Daizen Maeda’s ability to play through the centre, his Japan role, despite being used almost exclusively by Celtic on the left wing.
With less than four days to go in the transfer window Celtic fans have high expectations after watching their Starting XI get weakened alongside disappointing results to the start of the season.
Italian reporter Rudy Galetti has over 100,000 followers on Twitter but has little if anything of a track record on Celtic transfer stories.
Speaking to Give Me Sport he said:
Let’s keep an eye also on Kvistgaarden. Celtic have approached Brondby about the striker over the last few days. It could be a hot track in the next days.
At a reported fee of £6m it seems that Brondby aren’t keen on doing business. Kvistgaarden may be tipped for the top but right now Celtic are in need of seasoned players that can instantly make an impact on the first team, not someone needing nursed along.
A promising Scandinavian with 13 career goals doesn’t seem the best use of £6m when Maik Nawrocki at £4.2m from Legia Warsaw is their most expensive signing of the summer window.
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