Jota’s departure from Celtic is complete with an announcement imminent, according to a report.
The Scottish Sun say that the Portuguese winger has agreed to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad on a three-year contract.
They say the 24-year-old has passed a medical in Dubai and will earn an eye-watering £200,000 per week at his new club.
It seems like a matter of when and not if Jota‘s departure from Celtic will be confirmed, and that could come at any stage.
The report also states that Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers‘ position was that he “wanted to keep” Jota. However, it seems like the deal was right for all parties.
The fee is reported to be £25m with Jota’s former side Benfica due 30% of the profit we made on buying him.
Given that the winger cost a reported £6.4m (The Athletic) – that would entitle the Primeira Liga side to around £5.6m. (30% of £18.6m)
Celtic would then take home around £19m — a pretty impressive profit in just 12 months.
Of course, the money will only be beneficial if we replace Jota adequately. That will be no easy task given the impact he has made since his initial arrival on loan in 2021.
But our recruitment team have got the majority of their signings right over the past two years.
This agile, buy and sell strategy is what a number of teams around Europe have done for years. It will mean that we’ll have sad days when fan favourites depart.
But Jota’s departure will open the door for a new hero to make their own imprint on Celtic’s history.
The plan is for them to be even better than the man they’ve just replaced.
In other news, new Celtic signing Marco Tilio got a photograph with Lionel Messi late last year
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