Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Celtic: 3 things we learned from defeat

Celtic need to sign up Jota as soon as possible

Jota has been an absolute superstar since arriving at Celtic in the summer on a season-long loan and one has to wonder why he never established himself in the Benfica first-team or struggled at Real Valladolid on loan last season. He looks absolutely brilliant.

He might be only on loan at the moment but Celtic do have the option to make the deal permanent for a transfer fee believed to be around £6.5 million. And it is safe to say that they should not think about it twice at this point of time.

Jota is one of the most important players in Ange Postecoglou’s side already and for a long time, it had looked like he had scored the winner against Bayer Leverkusen on the night before things fell apart for Celtic at the end. The Portuguese winger was not on the pitch at that point of time though.

Whatever maybe the case, it is safe to say that Celtic need to do their best to make the loan deal for Jota permanent, although it might ultimately come down to the player himself and what he wants to do moving forward.

Celtic need to make signings in January

This one ties in with the lack of depth in the squad. On this occasion, it certainly had an effect on the result but it was not the only instance.

Even earlier in the campaign, we have seen the side struggle when Kyogo and Callum McGregor were out injured. And they will know that something similar could easily happen in the near future. In fact, Nir Bitton’s injury is a huge worry for Postecoglou.

Thus, it is safe to say that the Hoops need to strengthen their squad in January and make a few signings at least. Postecoglou appears to be building something good here but he definitely needs a bit more help than he has at the moment.