Portugal gaffer Roberto Martinez has picked out Jota as one to watch after confirming the Celtic ace is on his call-up radar.
The Hoops winger has had a sensational year after making his Parkhead loan permanent last summer. And his new national team coach Martinez is considering rewarding the former Benfica ace with an invite to join his squad after being blown away by his Champions League displays for Ange Postecoglou’s newly-crowned kings of Scotland.
He said: “Absolutely, he’s on my radar. I think obviously Jota is a player that is very important for the national team in terms of the qualities he has. He’s a player that has this natural knack of beating players in one-v-one situations. Since I arrived in January, I’ve tried to follow all the players and clearly Jota is one of them.
“His evolution has been very impressive. In the last four months especially, he is growing into a very mature role at his club. He's always involved in the big moments, and that's important. The stats that we have from him, they’re very impressive, not just in the Scottish league but in the Champions League.
“When you’re looking at measuring a player in that natural gift of taking players on it's very interesting to see it in in different levels. It's quite interesting that Jota actually has probably a bigger percentage in the Champions League than what he has in the Scottish Premiership, and that's something that we always follow very closely. He’s got the potential for being in the national team, absolutely.”
The 24-year-old £6million man faces some stiff competition to get a game for the Selecao side, with Manchester City ace Bernardo Silva, Chelsea star Joao Felix and AC Milan wonderkid Rafael Leao among the widemen ahead of him. But former Belgium gaffer Martinez has told the Celtic talisman - capped 18 times at Under-21 level - to keep up his current form if he wants to force the issue.
“Obviously there's a lot of competition for places in that role, we have players that have been playing big games for their clubs for a long time now,” he said. But it doesn’t mean that because Jota is playing in Scotland he’s not going to have the same chances.
“For us, Jota is very much a player that we appreciate what he can bring to the national team. His position is about being consistent. I think what has been very good is that he’s been very consistent with this role.
“Obviously you're talking about that position we have players like Joao Felix, Rafael Leao - but Jota has evolved immensely. When I look back at his time at Benfica and he had his time in Spain, I think he's found home. I think he really suits Celtic and I think it'll be very interesting how he develops in the next few months.
“Portugal has a population of 10.3 million people but we've got 82 players playing in the top five leagues in Europe. You can see the players they play week in, week out and season after season, in the Champions League.
“They reach almost a level of competition that helps them for international football. So I was delighted when Jota was involved in the Champions League this season and then having a big role in a club like Celtic can only help him.”
Jota has produced 27 goals in 79 appearances for Postecoglou’s team and Martinez praised the Aussie’s impact on the winger since they first linked up two years ago. He said: “Every player fits into a way of playing. The way Celtic are playing, they rely on players with natural talent that can make the difference, that they can take the advantage.
“When you can see the confidence that Jota is playing at the moment, then he can come up with moments like the goal against Rangers at Hampden last week. A header, that's very unusual! He's just been in the right place at the right time and I think it shows you that he's playing with confidence.
“That is down to the environment that the manager has created. It is the perfect environment for Jota to carry on developing.”
Roberto Martinez spoke during his guest appearance at Beatson Cancer Charity’s annual Sporting Dinner in Glasgow, which raised £138,000.
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