Celtic’s summer transfer window was an incredibly exciting and vibrant affair as a whole host of players joined Ange Postecoglou at Parkhead.
The Australian ensured there was a considerable upheaval of the playing staff as key players departed the Hoops but were replaced excellently with the funds available.
What’s the word?
Some of the business that Celtic concluded over the last few months was in the loan market.
Cameron Carter-Vickers became a late temporary arrival on transfer deadline day with the Spurs defender being confirmed just minutes before the window slammed shut.
They also managed to prise Jota away from Benfica on loan with an option to buy.
The forward hasn’t been seen on the field of play since arriving in Glasgow but it looks as though they already have plans to utilise that buy clause.
That’s according to Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph who featured on The Celtic Exchange Podcast this week.
He commented: “I was told by one source that they fully expect to be trying to buy him next summer. They expect him to flourish, and they expect him to really set the place alight.
“He’s highly regarded at Celtic, and they’ve done very well to get him in with an option to buy.
“I believe it’s a bit less than £6.5m, the option to buy, I think it’s just over £6m.”
Exciting news
Jota hasn’t played a single minute for Celtic yet but this is a piece of news that should get supporters leaping for joy.
After all, the young Portuguese has immense potential and could go on to become a real star.
Portuguese football expert and Proxima Jornada's Aaron Barton said after he signed for Celtic: “He’s tipped to be one of the brightest prospects to come out of Portugal in his age bracket.”
On top of that, he’s already been compared to some of the great wingers from his country, including a certain Manchester United legend.
Barton added: “Sometimes it can be his undoing, he does like to go back and do his man again – it’s in that very Portuguese dribbling style of running with the ball, coming almost to a standstill, throwing in a couple of step-overs and then beating the man and going.
“We saw Nani, Ricardo Quaresma and even Cristiano Ronaldo all do that same stance – they’d never be sort of just kick-and-run merchants, and Jota fits the same bill as well.”
At the age of just 22, Jota has received some phenomenal reviews without really showing much evidence of the true promise he possesses. That said, he’s suffered from a lack of football in Liga NOS.
Celtic could become the ideal opportunity for him to progress, therefore. What should also help is the fact that he’s a similar player to Liel Abada who has thrived since signing for Celtic.
Like Jota, he’s a particularly tricky winger with dangerous dribbling and that’s seen him rack up four goals and three assists in nine outings.
If the young Benfica prodigy can accumulate similar numbers then he will surely become an instant hit at Paradise.
On that evidence, it’s incredibly exciting they plan to keep him in Glasgow permanently.