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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Ex-Celtic star Jota takes firm Al-Ittihad transfer stance

Ex-Celtic star Jota has told Al-Ittihad he's going nowhere this summer.

Over the past few weeks, it has emerged that the Saudi Pro League side is looking to offload the Portuguese winger.

It comes just two months after the shelled out £25m for the 24-year-old.

His standout form for Celtic earned him the life-changing money move to the Middle East. 

But so far, things seemingly haven't gone to plan. 

Speculation mounted that boss Nuno Espirito Santo didn't actually sign the player and that the deal was more of a club decision. 

Talk of a potential fallout between Jota and other players at the club then started, amid rumours that Al-Ittihad wanted to loan him out in order to comply with the league's rules over the number of foreign players allowed in their first team squad.

He has been very limited to game time under Nuno. Although, he did make his last appearance count. 

Jota appeared off the bench to replace the injured Karim Benzema on Monday night. He scored in his side's 3-0 win over Al-Wehda, with his goal sparking wild celebrations.

And now, media outlet Aawsat states that the player has told Al-Ittihad chiefs that he doesn't want to leave the club.

It's said that the Saudi champions want to move on either Jota or Romarinho in order to free up space in the squad to draft in Liverpool hero Mohamed Salah.

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