Benfica president makes surprise Jota to Celtic claim

Over the last few transfer windows, Celtic have made some outstanding signings. A group of players came into the squad with very little expectations last summer, but have turned into some of the best in the Scottish Premiership. Jota belongs to that group.

Signed initially on a season-long loan from Benfica in the summer transfer window of 2021, the 23-year-old spent an outstanding campaign at Parkhead, and played a key part in Celtic’s Premiership and League Cup double.

Celtic struck a permanent deal with Benfica for the Portuguese wizard this summer by triggering the option to buy that was included in the loan deal, believed to be a transfer fee around €7.5 million. And since joining permanently, Jota seems to have taken his game to the next level and is playing some incredible football this season.

Benfica President, Rui Costa, was recently asked about whether he had any regrets over Jota’s move to Celtic this summer. As reported by Daily Record, while fielding questions on BTV, he said:

"“No. Jota was formed by us and went to Scotland on a loan with an option to buy. He had a brilliant season and Celtic activated the option.“We kept part of the multi-player pass. We will continue to follow the future to reap more dividends.”"

Benfica president makes surprise claim about Jota’s move to Celtic

In terms of transfer outgoings, Benfica had a great summer transfer window, with Darwin Nunez’s move to Liverpool fetching a huge transfer fee.

Since re-joining the Hoops, this time on a permanent basis, Jota has continued to produce the goods and might be even better now than he was last season. That is an exciting thought for sure.

Jota has a contract at Celtic until the summer of 2027. But if he continues to follow the upward trajectory in regard to his development, it would not be long before he comes on the radar of the coveted European heavyweights.

It is unlikely that Benfica would have let him go for anywhere near the transfer fee that they did, if Celtic did not have the option to buy included in the loan deal already.