Jota.

JOTA, the Celtic winger who was yesterday named the cinch Premiership Player of the Month for October, has targeted victory in every competition this season.

The Benfica loanee helped the Glasgow club win four of the five matches they played in the league last month and move to within four points of leaders Rangers.

The Portuguese was named Man of the Match after the Premier Sports Cup semi-final triumph over holders St Johnstone at Hampden on Saturday evening.

That result has set up a final encounter with Hibernian, who beat Rangers 3-1 on Sunday, and kept alive the Glasgow club’s hopes of completing a treble in the 2021/22 campaign.




Jota is concentrating fully on the Europa League group match against Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena in Germany on Thursday evening.

However, the 22-year-old confessed he would love to lift silverware in this country and stressed that he and his team mates will be going all out to win every match they are involved in.

“Of course, I would love to win everything,” he said. “But it’s too soon to think about it. We don’t have a final in our next game. We have a Europa League game. We will focus on that.


To play for Celtic you must be hungry. That’s what we are looking for. We want to win every game, every competition, game by game. We will stick to our process, which is what we are doing.

“I am definitely very happy with how things are going in this first stage of the season. Now I want to keep on going and do the best that I can and learn as much as I can.

“Is there more to come from me? Yes, for sure. I don’t want to stop here. My aim and my goals are very high. I want to work a lot to help the team and to achieve my objectives.”

Celtic have the option to buy Jota in the summer if they pay Benfica £6.5m and supporters are keen for them to keep the skilful forward in Glasgow. However, the player is unconcerned about his personal situation.

“I think right now I am enjoying my football,” he said. “Let me enjoy my football because it’s been great and whatever has to happen will happen in the right time.




Right now, I just want to play and learn as much as I can from my teammates and my coach and be happy.”

Beating St Johnstone and reaching the Premier Sports Cup final has been described as an important achievement for Celtic under their new manager Ange Postecoglou.

The Parkhead club are rebuilding after finishing last season trophyless and failing to make Scottish football history by winning the Premiership and completing 10-In-A-Row.

But Jota said: “Celtic never left, my friend. We are always here. Of course sometimes there are more difficult periods and teams go through some changes, but I think our team is solid and we are doing good things.

“We believe in us, which is the most important thing, and I know many people are starting to believe in us as well. So just let us do our thing and we will see.

“It was good that we won the game because we knew it was a huge loss for Celtic and we wanted to give a last dance for Bertie Auld. I think we did him proud. Now we just have to keep going.

“Yes, but first we have some more important games because the next game is always the most important one. We are going to think about those first and then when it comes the time we will think about the final.”


Celtic can boost their hopes of reaching the Europa League knockout rounds on Thursday by getting a result against Bundesliga rivals Leverkusen - and Jota is optimistic they can do so after their performances against Real Betis and Ferencvaros away.

“We are going to approach the game with the maximum tranquility, knowing what we need to do,” he said. “We are going to see what are the strengths of Leverkusen and the lower points and keep on doing our thing, sticking to our process and our ideas and do our football.

“To score goals you need to attack so we are not going there to defend. We need to attack. It’s a difficult game because they are very good, with very good attacking players, so we will need to defend.

“The Europa League games are like that, you have to defend well and attack well otherwise you won’t win the match.

“You need to win every game. Playing for Celtic that is a must. We don’t go out to draw or to lose. That’s just not in our perspective. We will fight for the victory in every single game.

“Can we take heart from the first game when we scored three goals away against Betis? Yes, we will fight for the result, we will work for the result. That is what we are looking to do.”

 

Much more hopeful than I was yesterday.

The media have been a but sneaky, paraphrasing his response to a permanent deal.

What they conveniently left out yesterday, but is now included today... Is that he said "if it's going to happen it will happen at the right time".

He's loving his football, loving life here, knows he's now a star player here and not on the bench for Benfica (madness), and he knows there's a good possibility, fingers crossed, of showcasing himself in the CL.

But still...

I'd rather we got him tied down sooner rather than later.

 

Reckon winning the league and getting CL groups would seal it tbh, makes us a far more attractive option to players of his calibre.

 

“Felipe, I know we’re asking you to stay


We say please please don’t go away


Cause it’s giving me the blues


Maybe you do mean every word you say


But can’t help when I see you play


We only want to tie you down to another contract


Before this season is finally over


Cause you picked my heart off of the floor


When the ball comes down then you step over


If you want to come back maybe well we have an open door


You Jota have Faith

I gotta have Faith

You Jota have Faith, Faith, Faith

I gotta have Faith, Faith, Faith”

 

Guess what the Celtic players nickname him?










School Book!

 

You’ve gotta have faith it won’t be his last Christmas here.

 

He's better looking that GM He's just a wee darling

 

My two nieces have suddenly taken an interest in the football again and are dropping less than subtle hints for a new Celtic top with his name on the back for Christmas. Youse women, whit are youse like

 

I'm not dead yet I think that he's highly marketable to the young. To be fair most of our players are good looking lads but Celtic would be making a grave mistake if they let this young man slip through their fingers. He offers something a little more. He's young, full of confidence and fun. That will have a knock on effect on those around him. Yes there will be a lot of wee girls keeping a closer eye on Celtic

 

I've just turned 30 this year and I'm spending my spare time making up George Michael playlists cause a guy who plays for the team I support looks like him. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

nooooooooo fgs I still have a pulse ye know nah I think he's a wee cutie in the way that a mammy would

 

* Jeanie, you sound like a tory there. Better not let any of our board hear you coming away with the idea of him being "highly marketable". Can just picture you sitting there with Bankier having a wee cuppa tea whilst looking down on us plebs

 

The older the fiddle the better the tune Jeanie - well, that's what I keep telling myself

 

How very dare you!

 

Former Celtic scout David Moss has revealed how close the club came to snapping up on-loan winger Jota for a knockdown fee as a teenager.


The 22-year-old has impressed on a season-long loan from Benfica, scoring six goals in 15 appearances and winning the cinch Premiership Player of the Month for October.

Celtic are now facing calls from fans to pay the £6.5million it would take to sign the Portuguese wide man on a permanent basis



A Lennoxtown scout for seven years, however, Moss has revealed how he travelled to Lisbon for talks with the player and his parents over a £200k deal before Benfica stepped in with a contract.



Helena Costa was a scout at Celtic for a long time and very good at her job,’ said former Falkirk and Dunfermline midfielder Moss.





She coached Jota at the Benfica academy from when he was eight or nine years old and she recommended him to Celtic when he was around 16.

‘I was scouting for the Celtic academy when she said to me: “David, you need to try and sign this winger before he signs a contract with Benfica


I went over there a few times to watch him and met him and his parents.

‘For whatever reason, I just don’t think Celtic were in a position back then to go and spend £200k or whatever the fee would have been to take on a teenage player with no first-team experience.

‘I am still in touch with Jota’s dad Pedro now. He invited me up to the hotel when he first signed on loan with Celtic.

‘I couldn’t make it up because I was away, but next time we’re both in Glasgow we plan to meet up.’

A former Head of Football Operations at Huddersfield, Moss is now an agent with young clients at both Celtic and Rangers.

The agent who took former Parkhead youngsters Liam Morrison and Barry Hepburn to Bayern Munich, he believes his old club should waste no time in paying the fee to make the Jota deal permanent to avoid missing out on the player for a second time.

‘I haven’t seen every game Jota has played but he is a player Celtic should try to sign,’ said Moss. ‘Clubs down south will definitely be sitting up taking note of his form now.


His strength is his technique. He is a typical Portuguese winger with creativity.

‘The good thing about him is that he has always scored goals and produced an end product


He is not a winger who has no outcome. Helena always said he had an end product.’