The grass is not always greener on the other side, especially when it comes to Celtic Park. Jota made a £25 million move to Al-Ittihad in the summer after establishing himself as a superstar over his two seasons at Parkhead. But things have gone wrong for him already, and now, there is speculation that a return to the Glasgow club could be on the cards.
Jota was brilliant during his two seasons at Celtic, helping the club to five trophies. That resulted in Al-Ittihad shelling out a transfer fee in the region of £25 million to sign him.
Just months later, Jota does not even seem to have a place in the Al-Ittihad. There has been all sorts of speculation about his future.
There have been suggestions that his contract could be terminated, making Jota a free agent. Also, rumours have suggested that he could be available on a loan deal. The entire situation is very confusing but it looks like a return to Celtic is not outside the realm of possibility.
Jota looks set to complete return to Celtic in January
As reported by Football Insider, Frank McAvennie said:
"“Maeda is doing a wonderful job.“He is just up and down, defends and it does not matter whether it is the right or left side.“But someone told me Jota is coming back in January.“It would be nice to have him back because you know what you are getting with him but I do think Brendan will need to sit down with the powers that be and tell them that he needs to sign some players.“"
It will be interesting to see if Jota does indeed end up making a return to Celtic in the January transfer window. If he does, it would be a major boost for the Hoops.
Jota was a vital part of their success over the past two seasons, and arguably the club’s best player during that period of time. Thus, having him back would have to be considered a positive.
Of course, it is also very possible that it might not end up happening. So, Celtic fans should not get their hopes up already. For the time being, let’s see how the likes of Luis Palma, Yang Hyun-jun and Marco Tilio do, having been signed in the summer window.