Celtic are “expected” to trigger their option to buy Benfica winger Jota before the end of the season, according to Sky Sports.
The Portuguese Under 21 international has been in excellent form since he joined on loan in the summer, racking up eight goals and six assists in 18 appearances.
The Hoops can buy Jota at any point for £6.5m and it seems like the Scottish club will be keeping the 22-year-old for the long term. Fans on Twitter are, unsurprisingly, delighted by this latest development:
Such a steal
— ☭ 🍑🏴Liam🏴🍑☭ (@stan_paulanka) December 6, 2021
Amazing bit of business. As Richard Gordon said, Benfica must have some team.
— CG44 (@Ticketustastic) December 6, 2021
— Scotty-boy (@thescotsman2001) December 6, 2021
I hope so 💚🤍💚🤍💚🤍
— william patrick (@william21031380) December 6, 2021
If player agrees
— Irish Sicilian (@LuccaSerchio) December 6, 2021
50m in the summer methinks
— Wullie 🇨🇮 (@WilliePearson69) December 6, 2021
Jota is worth a lot more than £6.5m so it would have been a shock if Celtic had not decided to retain his services beyond his current loan spell.
Of course, before signing him, they will need to speak to the player about whether he is happy to remain at Parkhead but you can’t really see that being a problem.
Manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed, however, that Jota will be sidelined for the festive period due to a hamstring problem and there is a risk he could miss the next derby against Rangers on January 2nd.