Jota’s man of the match performance, topped off with a goal against theRangers, surely put to bed any doubts as to Celtic spending upwards of £6m to secure the on loan 23-year-old winger on a permanent arrangement.
With the last of the concerns being whether the player could turn it on against our rivals having been dispensed with, it was now all about the player wanting to come to Celtic, rather than return to Benfica and fight for a first team place.
Now according to Portuguese publication Jornal Noticias Jota has informed Benfica of his intentions and it appears he wants a permanent transfer to Celtic, surely now paving the way for Celtic to get this deal over the line.
Celtic of course have two expensive deals they would look to conclude this summer, as the impressive Cameron-Carter Vickers, on loan from Spurs, is another player with an option to buy attached to his loan contract and one the Celtic manager would be keen to trigger. And The Celtic Star has been saying for many weeks now that both players are likely to sign permanent contracts at Celtic just as soon as this season is concluded. That is now edging close to be spot on.
Perhaps in normal circumstances there would be doubt as to whether Celtic could afford to conclude a deal for both Jota and Carter-Vickers, but now with a league title all but in the bag, and with it the automatic Champions football that has now been confirmed attached, money isn’t too tight to mention at Celtic. And with estimates stating Celtic could coin in as much as £40m from Champions League group stage qualification the money will be there to sign both players should they wish to join the Ange Postecoglou revolution on a permanent basis.
🇵🇹 | Jota
Incoming Benfica boss Roger Schmidt has approved the decision for Jota to remain at Celtic on a permanent basis.
Celtic agreed a fee of around £6.4M last August & will trigger this clause with Schmidt now giving the green light for Jota to leave.
[@JornalNoticias] pic.twitter.com/GRLTaFDe4N
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) May 3, 2022
Now it appears Jota at least has indicated to his parent club that his immediate football future lies in Scotland, we can but hope Carter-Vickers follows suit.
For Celtic both these deals should be no-brainers. The players in question have already proved they can cut it at Celtic and cope with the expectation and demands – something not every player quite gets the hang of – and both, even at £6m plus to purchase, are likely to have significant re-sale value further down the line, making these deals perfect from both a footballing and financial perspective.
This summer is going to be Stage 2 of Ange Postecoglou’s rebuild, as such concluding deals for both Jota, and hopefully Carter-Vickers too, will ensure plans for next season can begin in earnest and early. And as we saw from the January transfer window, that’s just the way the manager likes things done.
Niall J
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