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.
In other news, Chris Sutton has told Sead Haksabanovic that he is ‘out of order’ for publicly expressing his discontent
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