Out of all the transfers Brendan Rodgers could make over his next three years at Celtic, there is no doubt this one would endear him to every single fan on the planet.
The Celtic manager has struggled to get his wingers to contribute a consistent combination of goals and assists this season and there is no doubt that this 24-year-old Celtic favourite would do that.
A report from TeamTalk has said that Celtic have ‘made it clear’ to Jota that should he wish to return to Glasgow in January he would be ‘welcomed back’. With open arms, I would say.
The report goes on to say that Celtic have ‘thrown their hat into the ring’ and that the Portuguese winger would ‘consider’ a move back to the club where he was adored by the Celtic fans.
The first, and most obvious reason, is that the finances involved in such a move would ordinarily rule Celtic out of such a signing and that’s despite the club’s healthy financial position.
Al-Ittihad paid £25m for the winger in the summer and he is also on a reported £200k per week. With the best will in the world, Celtic could not get anywhere near close to Jota’s wage unless he took a minimum 80% pay cut.
Also, if Al-Ittihad are of a mind to recoup any of the £25m fee Celtic paid, then what they would demand would be significantly increased due to the interest of Tottenham Hotspur.
The report in TeamTalk does suggest that Jota’s agents are in discussions to arrange for him to be allowed to leave for free but if there are two clubs interested in their player, Al-Ittihad would be crazy if they didn’t at least ask for some sort of fee for him.
And that brings me to my second reason. The interest of a Premier League club and a reunion with Ange Postecoglou, who thinks the 24-year-old is incredible, could be a huge draw for Jota.
Playing against the likes of Man City, Man United and Arsenal would be extremely appealing to the Portuguese. And hooking up with the manager who brought out the best in him and understands him could also be huge for Jota considering the challenging time he has had in Saudi Arabia.
Thirdly, Jota only left a matter of months ago. It is highly unusual for Celtic to bring a player back to a club that hasn’t been away for a significant period of time.
In fact, I don’t think that I’ve seen a player return to the club so quickly in all my time supporting Celtic.
Whatever happens, the fact that Celtic are open to bringing Jota back to the club will fill the fans with excitement and I am pretty sure that should Brendan Rodgers pull this off, every Celtic supporter will forgive him for how he left the club in 2019.