Jota is one of the most popular players that Celtic have had in recent years. He was signed in the summer of 2021, when the club were in a terrible position and the expectation was that it would take the Hoops a couple of years to get back to challenging the Rangers for the league. Instead, they won five trophies over the next two years with their 'superstar from Portugal' playing a starring role in that run.
Jota would leave the club last year to join Al-Ittihad in a then Scottish-record £25 million move. It did not work out for him there though and he would get another transfer this summer, this time to return to Europe and join Rennes.
Jota has already scored once for Rennes and recently made his first start for the Ligue 1 club. On the other hand, Celtic might now have someone even better than him.
Nicolas Kuhn was tremendous as Celtic won 6-0 against Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park in what was a statement performance. And the fans have hailed the German winger after the performance:
Kuhn >> Jota and it's not close #Celtic #COYBIG 🍀
— Tatty0__0 (@Tatty0__0) November 2, 2024
Nico Kuhn is him. 😮💨
— Lee Fitzpatrick (@UncleLroyCFC) November 2, 2024
Celtic told they now have a player better than Jota
Kuhn has more goal contributions than appearances this season so far. That is some contribution from a winger, to say the least.
The difference between Kuhn right now and him in the second half of last season is remarkable. He has taken his game several levels up within a short period of time. He deserves a ton of credit for that as does the Celtic coaching team.
It might be a little too early to claim that he is better than Jota though. One thing that Kuhn has yet to do, which the Portuguese winger did consistently at Celtic, is deliver on the biggest stages. That means finals, major Champions League games or Glasgow Derbies.