Celtic assistant Shaun Maloney has issued a broad timeline for Jota's return to the pitch after the Portuguese attacker returned to training on Friday.
The Bhoys' record signing has been out since April 2025, when he suffered an ACL rupture that led to further complications. After well over a year out, Jota is back on the grass with his teammates, and he will be carefully managed as he looks to increase his workload and pass more fitness markers over the coming weeks.
Jota not close to Celtic return just yet
Martin O'Neill will already be counting down the days until Jota returns, with the Hoops in need of more winger competition, albeit it looks like Haissem Hassan will be signed from Real Oviedo in the coming days.
But the wait for Jota's return to contention is still not close at this stage, with the winger still needing to build up his fitness and have a real pre-season.
“Yes, it’s really positive for us. I’ve never worked with him," Maloney told reporters on Friday.
“I’ve watched him, obviously, but we’re all excited to get him back. He’s still a matter of weeks. Today was the first day, he had a full session in terms of doing every drill, but some of that was unopposed.
“He’s still not in full contact, so it’s still a matter of weeks. It’s not going to be two or three weeks. He’s still a bit to go, but it is really positive.”
Jota has had a very tough time of things having initially been expected to miss around nine months of action, which is standard for an ACL rupture. But he has now been out for around 16 months, and that will likely become 17 and then some before he can return to play.
When he does return, it will be a huge boost for Celtic, but they are right to play it safely to ensure they reduce the chances of Jota suffering a further setback down the line. Muscular injuries can plague players after returns from serious knee injuries, so it's abouting building up workload slowly to reduce that risk as much as possible.
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