Celtic winger Jota has admitted he’s looked to study the ways of Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as he dismissed talk of a Portugal first-team call-up anytime soon.
Jota is currently on loan at Parkhead from Benfica in a season-long agreement. The Hoops have an option to buy in the deal, reported to be worth just over £6m [Sky Sports].
It’s fair to say he’s started life in Scotland well with 3 goals and 3 assists in only 8 appearances [Transfermarkt]. And after being capped at all age levels by Portugal outside of the A team, it’s clear the next step for the youngster will be to play alongside his hero Ronaldo.
However, the player himself has admitted he hasn’t even thought about a call-up as he talked up how he’s tried to look up to the Old Trafford sensation.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Jota said: “Cristiano has been an idol during the last decade. I looked to him a few times and took notice of the things he did, like his work ethic and the way he played on the pitch. He’s someone to look out for and to believe in his ideas about football.
“It not easy to make the national team in Portugal. It is very competitive. I have to be proud that my country has so many good players. Getting a call from Portugal isn’t a thing I think about at the moment. I think it’s more important to deliver good results for my club.
“Everything will come in time. I just want to do it this way.”
Jota call-up to Portugal squad will boost his stock further
From a Celtic point of view, the last thing we need is Jota’s stock being boosted further. Whilst we have a solid option-to-buy agreement in the loan deal with Benfica, we wouldn’t want to risk massive interest from elsewhere.
His parent club is still entitled to accept alternative offers despite the option with Celtic. That could give Jota some tasty prospects this summer should clubs from some of Europe’s bigger leagues come sniffing for him.
Granted, it’s probably far too early to be talking about this. It’s important not to get carried away by goals away to Aberdeen and Motherwell. Jota’s Celtic career has only just begun and he’s only made a smudge of the impact he’ll hope to end the season with.
We can’t obssess over what’s going to happen to the player beyond the summer. We’re not even a third of the way into the campaign yet. These are discussions that can wait for months down the line. It’s not as if Celtic are going to try and sign him up permanently anytime soon.
We’ve still to even see whether Jota is consistent enough to keep these high levels going. The early signs are promising, but there are still questions to be asked of him.
And it’s clear the player knows that too. He’s not getting ahead of himself, and neither should the rest of us.
In other news, Pierre van Hooijdonk addresses summer interest in Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis
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