Ligue 1 side Rennes have placed an £6.7m asking price on Jota as rumours continue over a potential Celtic return. The French side parted with around £8.5m to end the winger’s nightmare stint in Saudi Arabia but new boss Jorgi
According to Turkish side Habererk, Rennes will accept £1.8m less than they paid for the attacker just a matter of months ago.
Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor have made enquiries about a deal but whether the player is keen on going to Turkey to play for a mid table side is unlikely. Although, it seems clear that Jota is set to make a move away from Rennes as he looks to get himself back playing regularly.
Celtic supporters online have been tentatively hoping that the rumours regarding Jota materialise into something more substantial. The player’s feeling towards Celtic is obviously very strong but whether the club are keen to reunite with the Portuguese attacker remains to be seen.

— Hoidy (@Hoidy) January 20, 2025
Celtic sold Jota for £25m in the summer of 2023 but the player has struggled to settle at both Al Ittihad and now Rennes. Jota made 83 appearances for Celtic in two seasons, scoring 28 goals and assisting on 26 occasions. Jota was a key figure under Ange, winning five trophies in two years and you have to think that he would’ve continue his upward trajectory under Brendan. The Irishman wants quality to push Celtic on in the European context of the game and Jota certainly fits that criteria.
If Celtic were to beat Young Boys on Wednesday, the club would take a step towards qualification in the UEFA Champions League and this would allow three additions to the UCL List A but three players would require to drop out. There will likely be some incomings and outgoings after Celtic’s games against Young Boys and Aston Villa as the squads are allowed to refresh.
Your article says that Celtic supporters are tentatively hoping that the rumours regarding Jota materialise into something more substantial. Not this Celtic supporter. As I said on this site at the time when he left he went off to a patriarchal, homophobic, transphobic regime which thought nothing about destroying dissenters as illustrated by the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the shameful dismembering of his body. And then there was the soaring rate of executions including 81 in one day in 2022.
I didn’t think at the time that Celtic supporters, or the club, should have been celebrating the blood-money profit generated by such an immoral transfer but should have said good riddance to him. I still believe that.
The supporters can’t have it both ways. They are rightly proud of their record in highlighting some injustices in the world. To be consistent means not ignoring others such as the actions of the Saudi regime. Jota chose to go there, that was his choice, totally immoral though it was. For that reason I hope the club does not entertain his return. It would be morally and politically indefensible.