Jota: Celtic loanee 'owes it to club' to sign on a permanent deal

On-loan Celtic winger Jota owes it to Scottish champions-elect and their manager Ange Postecoglou to commit his long-term future to the club, according to John Hartson.

Jota has had an excellent season at Celtic.

The former Parkhead striker is encouraged by reports that talks have begun with Portuguese wide man over a permanent deal after sources in Lisbon revealed Celtic have informed his parent club they want to take up a £6.5million buy option on the 23-year-old.

Jota has been circumspect on whether he would want to remain at Celtic beyond the season’s agreement that brought him to Glasgow on transfer deadline day. Celtic would struggle to match the wages that would be on offer if he attracted offers from the English Premier League but Hartson believes other considerations should come into play. Not least that Jota had never had a concerted run of senior starts in top flight football before coming under Postecoglou’s tutelage last summer. A switch that has given way to the player being an automatic first choice and delivering 12 goals and 12 assists in a campaign interrupted by two months out with a hamstring problem across the turn of the year.

“I know there is not a lot of loyalty in football these days,” said the Welshman. “Players come and go, players let contracts run down and these things. But Jota was very much an unknown quantity at Benfica a year ago now and Ange Postecoglou has given him a level and a platform to come and play at a global club like Celtic. [Now he has the chance] To go and make a name for himself in Europe and an opportunity to play at a massive club with a huge expectation under pressure.

“Jota has been sensational at times. Yes he’s had a couple of injuries, yes sometimes he didn’t hit heights of previous games or weeks. But in terms of his goals, and [his performances in scoring against Ross County and Rangers] in the past couple of weeks [he can’t be faulted]. If he has a choice of clubs, one or two options, I would like to think he won’t forget what Ange and the Celtic fans have done for him. As I say, there’s little loyalty in the game now. But I’d like to think that if he has the opportunity to sign, with what they have done for him as a young progressing footballer, he would stay.”