After Ronaldo’s move to the Saudi Pro League earlier this year, many more seem to be following in his footsteps. Though the majority of the players seem to be above a certain age, young players like Ruben Neves, and Ayumeric Laporte have also made the move to Saudi Arabia
One such young player that has made his move is Celtic cult hero Jota (Not to be confused with Liverpool’s Diogo Jota). João Pedro Neves Filipe or Jota was sensational for Celtic last season and helped them win their domestic treble. But soon after winning that, he broke Scottish hearts by saying that he will be leaving the club to join Al-Ittihad.
🚨 Record signing Jota ‘to leave’ Al Ittihad just ONE month after moving to Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/0mw7ZkrwX3
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) August 21, 2023
Al – Ittihad have also added high-profile players like Benzema, Fabinho, and Kante to their ranks. But only one month after signing for the club, reports have emerged suggesting that the Portuguese star might be on his way out of the Club. The winger is reported to have a contract of $192,000 per week but is now set to leave after featuring only four times for the club.
The news was first reported by Saudi journalist Muhammad Al-Bakiri on X. This report came as a surprise to many as Nuno Espirito Santo likes Jota a lot and the club posted an eye-catching video announcing his arrival.
But, currently, no additional information has been revealed. An exit shouldn’t be discounted after all as the Saudi Pro league allows only eight foreign players and Nuno has shown interest in signing some more players. This has gotten the fans speculating that the club will be loaning out or selling a few of their current foreign players.
Al-Shabab is interested in Jota in case Al-Ittihad sends him on a loan
Al-Shabab though has not made any lucrative signings like their other league compatriots, they have players such as Ever Banega, and Kim Seung Gyu and would be interested in taking Jota for a loan spell.
Jota hasn’t been able to make much of an impact since coming to Saudi with him mostly being left on the bench. Some claim that Al Ittihad is strongly considering getting rid of Jota and signing more established players as they have already which would give them even more revenue and viewership.
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Al-Ittihad is considering loaning new signing Jota to Al-Shabab.
The Saudi club paid around €30M for the Portuguese winger.@sport360Saudi pic.twitter.com/GelQhuZb7u— Saudi Pro League Transfers (@RSL_Transfers) August 10, 2023
Recently some reports have suggested that Jota will stay and fight for a place. Nuno Espirito Santo said that “He needs time. It would be unfair if I evaluated the players now. I am a positive person.” This comment from the manager was very needed as fans have been very unhappy with Jota’s limited game time with some saying he should play more as he has joined the club in his prime, unlike others.
Brendan Rodgers has also told the media that they haven’t been able to replace Jota in the transfer market which brings the question, Is a move back to Celtic a possibility? It remains to be seen where Jota ends up before the Transfer window wraps up.
