It's not quite a saga, but there is no doubt that Jota 's permanent transfer to Celtic is starting to cause concern among Celtic fans. A move appeared to be sealed, but time is dragging on with no official announcement.
The forward has not reported for pre-season despite an agreement being in place with Benfica for the winger having been reached in a deal worth £6.4million. Instead, the 23-year-old was snapped at a music festival with fellow Benfica academy graduate Andre Horta in Portugal as the Celtic team were put through their paces at Lennoxtown.
While Ange Postecoglou has stated he will wait for the right player this summer as he looks to bolster his pool for the Champions League group stage, the Parkhead boss has confessed he wants the core of his squad to join him for pre-season. Following day one of training, he said: "For me, apart from strengthening the squad, just being able to work with the players we had last year in pre-season will be invaluable.
"Most of them either missed pre-season or we threw them in halfway through a season. Even working with the existing squad will be invaluable."
That ramps up the pressure on Jota and the Celtic higher-ups to get a deal done with some training dates just around the corner. Record Sport takes a look.
July 4
While several Celtic first-team stars reported for pre-season at Lennoxtown on June 27, some of the key players were given extended leave due to their international commitments.
The likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Callum McGregor, Josip Juranovic and Giorgios Giakoumakis were regulars for their countries as they rounded off the campaign.
However, the full squad are expected to jet off to Austria next Monday for the training camp ahead of the new campaign. With everyone together again, there is little doubt Postecoglou would want the winger by the time they arrive at Glasgow Airport.
July 6
And if Jota isn't on the plane, fans and Postecoglou will hope he is on the pitch for the first friendly of the pre-season training camp. As part of the warm-up programme, the Scottish Premiership champions will play SC Wiener Viktoria on Wednesday following their arrival.
The Australian will hope to give all of his squad minutes against the Austrian Regional League side to ramp up their match fitness. The game kicks off a triple header of games in Austria, with fixtures against Rapid Vienna and Banik Ostrava pencilled in during the 10-day camp.
July 16
If the deal isn't done by the middle of pre-season, fans and Postecoglou will no doubt be getting nervous that the Benfica loanee could be on the move elsewhere. But the first game back at Celtic Park of the pre-season schedule could also be the perfect time to unveil the permanent transfer.
Blackburn Rovers will be the first visitors to Glasgow's east end this coming season and the Celtic boss will want Jota to be nearing full match fitness by the time the English Championship side arrive.
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