Al Ittihad have announced the signing of Moussa Diaby from Aston Villa in a deal that surely spells the end for Jota’s time in Saudi Arabia. Celtic sold the Portuguese winger to Al Ittihad last summer in a deal worth £25m but it has been far from easy for the attacker.
Now, Al Ittihad signed Diaby in a deal worth £50m (€60m). Diaby has reportedly agreed a contract until 2029 on a gross salary of almost £20m per year. Laurent Blanc has taken over as manager bringing Diaby in alongside Houssem Aouar. The two will take up players in the foreign list for the Jeddah side, meaning that Jota will once again be facing the Saudi wilderness should he not move on.
Jota has made just 22 appearances in all competitions in Saudi, scoring four goals and assisting once. The form and (lack of) adulation in the Saudi Pro League is a far cry from his time at Celtic, where he produced extraordinary moments in the Hoops. During a recent meeting with Celtic fans in Lisbon, Jota said that he wasn’t sure but that he loved Celtic when asked if he was coming back.
Interestingly, Sam Matterface on Talksport said that Saudi clubs will honour contracts to players that they have already, putting Jota in a strong negotiating position should he want to move on.
During two years in Glasgow, Jota 83 appearances for Celtic as they won five trophies. In those games, he scored 28 goals and assisted on 26 occasions, which resulted in links to a number of clubs. Celtic fans are eager to see what happens to Jota and a deal would surely be something that would be celebrated, given how much the club meant to Jota.
The manager is in the market for a winger and it may be that everything falls into place. There hasn’t been much speculation from the Celtic end regarding a return for the player but there is plenty of interest from the player’s end. It could be one to keep an eye on as, given this update, Al Ittihad have clearly decided that they are moving on from Jota.
I should think they should sign jota back fantastic player for celtic and hope to get adam back from Norwich he wants to play for celtic but will norwich let him go if the guy wants to play for celtic he should give the guy his wish
The fee and wages of Jota are miles outside what Celtic will pay.
Idah is still unproven even though he had a couple of good matches, so Celtic won’t pay the exaggerated fee for him, Idah does have a lot of potential and is a very strong player.
I would welcome Jota & Idah to Celtic.
I want Celtic to just pay the money but I have to be realistic and remember that’s why Ramgers were liquidated, living beyond their means.
Having moaned for weeks about the clubs lack of spending, it’s unfortunately nothing more than a dream to be able to get Jota back. It would be amazing, there’s no doubting his charismatic swashbuckling style of play has left such an impact on our memory. But without access to the Board’s specific budget plans for the season ahead, I’m reminded of a comment one of the bloggers made a few weeks back which made a lot of sense, and that was along the lines of:
“Getting Schmeichel in for free (wages aside) frees up money to spend on other outfield targets, such as Idah”. So you’re still only talking a few million for Bernardo, maybe a couple more ideally for Idah, and a free for the goalie. They will not push the boat out on fees for other players by the look of it – a loan deal for the Wolves left back, and a second look at the centre half from Burnley. These are squad players and not going to cost the earth.
However – if Matt.O’Reilly glides away for his big move (deservedly so but would love him to stay selfishly) – then is that money right there enough to swing for bringing somebody like Jota? Would he necessarily want to, with the best of intentions or is it better for him.to move elsewhere? And equally do we reinvest any O’Reilly profit on the midfield? There is no obvious playmaker like him or the retired Mooy, or even Turnbull, in the squad.
Anyway a Jota pipedream is still a nice thought!!