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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Will Lancaster

Watch Jota in instant bromance as former Celtic star plus A-list teammates Benzema and Kante bigged up

Former Celtic man Jota could not wipe the smile off his face as he was greeted by fellow Portuguese boss Nuno Espirito Santo as one of the 'A-List stars' at new club Al-Ittihad.

The Celtic favourite became one of the Hoops' most important players in his two-year spell in the east end of Glasgow, namely for his personality, skillful nature, top mentality and his knack of scoring against bitter rivals Rangers as the reigning Scottish Premiership champions romped to a total of fix major trophies from a possible six whilst he plied his trade in the east end of Glasgow.

But the love affair soon came to an end at the turn of the month when Al-Ittihad, last season's Saudi Pro League champions, came calling. Having already signed 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema after he ended a 14-year stint at Real Madrid, alongside affable Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante, the Saudi club needed other stars to join their ranks - and who better than Jota, who has the potential to become one of the best players in the league over the next few seasons despite star-studded signings such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Firmino, Edouard Mendy and Ruben Neves.

It's somewhat of a Portuguese revolution in the middle east, and Jota will be made to feel right at home by boss Nuno Espirito Santo - formerly of Tottenham and Wolves, where he led the latter to Premier League promotion and a Europa League run. And that's clear to see he had a huge impact in terms of welcoming Jota to the club; with his fellow countryman grinning from head to toe after the move.

28 goals in 83 games for Celtic marked an incredible return for a player who featured mainly as a traditional winger at Parkhead - though it remains to be seen who Celtic will spend the money on after replacing the Portuguese trickster with Australian hotshot Marco Tilio.

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