Celtic have a number of players in their ranks who have performed wonderfully over the past couple of seasons and played a key part in their success under the management of Ange Postecoglou. The club have won three trophies during the time of the Australian at Parkhead already and it feels like there could be more to come very soon. A potential treble is still on the table.
One player who has to be near the top of the list of Celtic’s best signings during the Postecoglou era is Jota. The Portuguese winger was very highly rated while coming through the youth ranks at Benfica and was once even linked with a move to Real Madrid.
But things did not go according to plan at the senior level. He was struggling to make his mark when he arrived at Celtic on loan from Benfica last season. Here, he started to show his abilities and was so good that he was signed permanently for a transfer fee believed to be around £6.5 million in the summer.
He has continued to perform at a high level this season as well. And recently, he found the back of the net against the Rangers in the Glasgow Derby, not his first goal against the Ibrox outfit though.
Celtic boss makes superb claim about £6.5 million player
As reported by 67 Hail Hail, Postecoglou said about Jota in a media conference on Celtic’s official YouTube channel:
"“He’s been great. He obviously had a great season last year and we were fortunate then to be able to get him on permanently. He’s really embraced the football club. He’s embraced the way we play and he’s embraced his own journey in wanting to improve and continually develop as a footballer. I’ve certainly seen growth in him.“The talent’s always been there. He’s just really getting a lot cleverer and smarter about how to use that and becoming a lot more disciplined in making sure that, without it curtailing his sort of creativity, that he works hard for the team. You saw that last week.“That goal he scored was some great individual brilliance but it came from his willingness to work hard for the team in a defensive sense and that’s been great for all our attacking players to embrace that side of the game. They get rewards for it like he did in terms of goals and assists. They’re willing to do that side of the game and it doesn’t curtail the creativity they have and the individual brilliance they have. But he’s been one that’s really matured and it’s great to see. I think there’s more to come.”"
Jota is someone who has been a standout performer for Celtic over the past couple of seasons. And it looks like Postecoglou believes that the winger has become better in certain aspects of his game over time.
There could be more to come from Jota for sure, as he is still very young. It was just last month that he turned 24. Thus, he is nowhere near his prime yet. Hopefully he remains at Celtic for the foreseeable future.