The surprising fee Rennes will pay as former Celtic hero Jota ends Saudi nightmare

Add as preferred source on Google

The speculation surrounding former Celtic hero Jota’s future at Al Ittihad is set to end today as the winger completes his move to Rennes.

Jota left Celtic last summer to make his £25m move to the Saudi club but despite picking up a reported £192,000 per week, his dream move quite quickly turned into a nightmare.

The Portuguese winger found himself in and out of Ittihad’s matchday squad as league regulations meant that only a certain number of foreign players could be registered by Saudi clubs and that left Jota’s future hanging in the balance from the very beginning of his move.

Speculation surrounding Jota and his next destination has been a continuous cycle of headlines over the last twelve months with a return to Celtic also mooted at one point.

However, it seems that Jota is not on his way to Rennes and the fee that the French club are set to pay for him will certainly raise the eyebrows of the Celtic fans.

The bargain fee Rennes will pay for Jota

According to Fabrizio Romano, the French Ligue 1 side will pay just €8m for Jota as he jets into France to complete the deal.

Romano said, “Jota will be in France today to complete his move to Rennes, wanted by director Massara. Fee will be around €8m for Al Ittihad player.”

At today’s exchange rate, that equates to just £5.82m for a player who has proven that he can produce the goods at the highest level in the Champions League.

When the deal does go through, it will end a year of turmoil that has seen what was meant to be a dream chapter in Jota’s career turn into a nightmare the Portuguese winger will want to forget.

Why did Celtic not make Jota move?

So the question remains, at that price, why did Celtic not make their move? It is undeniable that the club have failed to replace the Portuguese since he left last summer and, without question, that type of fee is easily affordable.

One would have to assume that Celtic would be able to match what Rennes can offer in terms of a financial package but maybe a move to the French league was much more appealing.

With no European football, Rennes cannot offer Jota exposure to the cream of Europe like Celtic can in the Champions League.

So playing against the likes of PSG, Marseille, Lyon and Monaco compared to the far-flung reaches of the likes of Ross County and Aberdeen in the depths of winter must have been a factor in the move.

But somehow the feeling that Celtic may have missed a trick here may well be felt amongst the Hoops support.

However, I’m sure many Celtic fans will wish Jota well and hope that they may well see their former hero appear in the famous green and white Hoops again one day in the future.