Ex Celtic employee urges club to beat English foes and make big transfer move

By Euan Davidson

November 24, 2021

Former Celtic scout David Moss reckons English clubs will be taking note of Jota and his barnstorming spell in Glasgow.

Jota has contributed directly to 12 goals in just 15 appearances since arriving on loan from Benfica. Celtic are in pole position to land the Portuguese winger, due to a clause in the loan agreement.

However, the deep pockets of clubs south of the border could hold sway, reckons Moss. Now an agent, Moss helped bring talents like Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama to the club.

He’s also assisted in getting players get moves from Celtic. Barry Hepburn and Liam Morrison both left the Hoops Academy for Bayern Munich, with Moss’ guidance.

Moss reckons Celtic should absolutely sign Jota, and secure his considerable talents for the long-term.

Moss said [Daily Mail]:

“I haven’t seen every game Jota has played but he is a player Celtic should try to sign.

“Clubs down south will definitely be sitting up taking note of his form now. His strength is his technique. He is a typical Portuguese winger with creativity.

“The good thing about him is that he has always scored goals and produced an end product.

“He is not a winger who has no outcome. Helena [Costa, former Celtic scout] always said he had an end product.”

David Moss claims Celtic have had Jota on their radar for years

The connections between Jota and Celtic run deeper than present day, insisted Moss. The former Celtic scout has claimed that he and former colleague Helena Costa – an ex-Benfica youth coach – lobbied the club to bring Jota to Glasgow when he was 16.

Alas, as Moss says [Daily Mail], the £200,000 fee for an unproven teenager was too rich for Celtic’s blood at the time. Moss and Jota’s father, though, have remained close since.

It’s incredible, the stories scouts have. And how cosmic that Jota ended up at Celtic anyway, 6 years after the club were initially interested. The amount of circumstance for that to be the case is astonishing.

He’s right, though; there’s an argument for Celtic to wait until the summer, but it’s not the strongest one. Jota, if he doesn’t sign for the Hoops, will be one of the more attractive targets for English and European clubs in the summer.

Provided that happened, Celtic would have got production out of Jota, sure. But they’ll have made Benfica a tidy profit. There’s no financial sense in that.

Celtic are in the driver’s seat here. Fans certainly want Jota long term. So does, it appears, the scout who brought some great names to the club.

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