Jota

Play it again.....

January can be a slow month. Dry and devoid of light, the hump day of winter. Predictable.

Juxtaposed to that, is Jota. Quick, bright, slick, and out of nowhere, a Celtic player again. There had been whispers….

He is back though and he is exactly what is needed. Celtic’s recent stiffness has been poured over, deep dives and hours of discussion, trying to brand what is at most, a sticky patch. Something has been missing though. It’s not a coachable or tangible quality and you won't find it on Fotmob. It is not the explosive runs or goal contributions of Nicolas Kuhn or the chaos-inducing – churn milk into butter type – industry of Daizen Maeda. It’s that inherent, natural ability to make things happen. The collar-up, off-the-cuff creativity, only found in a few. Flair.

Jota has it. The 25-year-old Portuguese wide-man is a dribbler at heart. The way he moves, the ease, with which he changes direction, and the chops, feints, and shoulder twitches, are all designed to allow him to emerge from tight spaces, with the ball. He’s quick, not lightning quick but often able to ghost defenders when it looks unlikely. Temptingly close and then gone, elusive at the last second, when it matters. Able to pick the lock on the low blocks, we face regularly.

Whilst he can pick a lock with his dribbling, it’s his final ball – the one missing against Young Boys, Zagreb and Brugge – that can kick the door down. His 25 assists in two seasons with Celtic are a great mixture, of deliveries. Flat crosses after checking back on the left, low and whipped crosses from the right, and decisive cutbacks from either wing. Really striking is his two-footedness, to be that polished on either side is rare. When inverting deep on the left, he has great variety with it, producing reverse passes and through balls, or if needed a flicked back heel. Jota has that little bit extra but it has substance. A practiced improvisation.

24 goals as well, the first time up, in a system, far more striker-centric. And again, the variety and two-footedness is evident. Tap-ins near and back post, driven finishes in the bottom corner, screamers from distance and scruffy, lucky goals. 4 of these, came against Rangers – one a header – and two Champions League(A) goals. Ultimately, this is what we are paying for. You can never have too many players, that have scored a free-kick at the Bernabeu.

It’s another “Blue Chip” signing. £8.4 million is the fourth highest fee we’ve paid and comes off the back of, our highest(£11m) and 2^nd highest fees(£9m), paid for Arne Engels and Adam Idah, respectively. These larger outlays are a recent development for Celtic and point to us, finally learning from previous lessons – buy cheap, by twice. Kieran Terney is set to return - any day now – and along with progress to the knockout stage, in the Champions League, things seem to be evolving on and off the field.

Jota is the archetypal poster boy for this, the lead singer's good looks, the swashbuckling playing style, and the denim jaicket, make him a perfect candidate for the leading role. Adored by 8 and 80-year-olds, alike – a strange phenom in football – always smiling and with a beautiful sense of what people want to hear, in interviews and see on the pitch.

In recent years, we have rarely got to keep our shiniest toys for long. A few good games and conversations veer toward a projected price, for their eventual sale. Jota is coming back at 25 though, 18 months after we sold him, for a record fee. This is like a friend returning a favourite jumper, you forgot about. One that, still fits perfectly and has a £20 note in the pocket. It’s almost too good to be true.

Picture him smoking his full-back, 6 minutes into his debut and his song ringing out at Parkhead, picture him burying it, in the bottom corner and wheeling away delighted, ready to soak up the adulation. You won’t have to wait too long.

27/01/2025

Working from home today (doing this on my lunch), and the signing is supposedly “Imminent.” I’m impatient but delighted. Rumours that he’s currently holding the pool table, in the Brazen Head are yet to be confirmed.

Happy Monday.