Jota has returned to Celtic in an £8m deal – just 18 months after leaving the Scottish champions for £25m.
The Portuguese winger arrives from Rennes and has signed a five-and-a-half-year deal at Parkhead, subject to international clearance, which will see him remain at the club until June 2030.
In 2023 Jota swapped Celtic for a big-money move to Saudi side Al Ittihad but was left out of the club’s Pro League squad and found himself on the fringes of the starting XI for Asian Champions League matches.
Jota is returning to Celtic while Kyogo set to depart in the opposite direction
He then moved to Rennes last summer, but the appointment of new manager Jorge Sampaoli left the player seeking another move – and he has his wish after returning to Celtic.
Jota initially moved to Parkhead on loan from Benfica in 2021, before being signed permanently on a five-year deal the following season.
The former Benfica player scored 28 goals and provided 26 assists in 83 appearances, plus won five major honours with the Parkhead club.
He told Celtic TV: “It’s very nostalgic for me because it was such an amazing feeling and all the moments that I felt through my two seasons here, and I’m just delighted to be back. I’m really excited and I just can’t wait to start.
“The best thing in Glasgow, besides Celtic obviously, is the people and I feel like I need a place with soul, where I feel at home. This is definitely something I was looking for, and I think there is no better match than Celtic.
“I’m so excited. The last year-and-a-half has had its ups and downs, but that’s life and that’s how football is. Now I just can’t wait to work hard, to get along with the lads again and just to flow.”
Rodgers: Jota can grow Celtic legacy
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is looking forward to working with Jota for the first time
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is looking forward to finally working with the winger:
“An absolutely incredible addition to our squad, given what he’s done here before and his qualities.
“He was one player that when I was coming back the first time, I was really, really looking forward to working with. I’d seen him play for Celtic, of course, and seen the impact that he made in terms of creating goals, scoring goals.
“Virtually before I arrived, it was very clear that he was gone. That was disappointing.
“I’ve spoken to him at length. The challenge always is, and I know through first-hand experience, is that when you’ve created a legacy, lots of people will tell you to come back and maybe for that to be dented in any way.
“My feeling and advice to him was, come back and grow that legacy to be even greater.
“If you’re not happy in your work where you are or how it’s going for you, you know that this is a place where you will improve, you will develop.
“He’s at a different moment in his life now as well, even though he’s been away only a few years. I think that he’ll come back with a real motivation. He’s got an undoubted quality.”
