Jota’s won it all before and he’s back to do it again in Glasgow’s east end
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side – but Jota didn’t need the time away from Celtic to figure out that the club was special.
The Portuguese winger has hit the ground running in his second spell in green and white and it’s like he’s never been away.
He was sold for £25m in 2022 but a nightmare 18 months in Saudi Arabia and France brought him back home.
But did the time away give Jota a greater appreciation for the club?
The winger paused for thought at his broadcast press conference, before answering honestly: “No, I wouldn’t say so. I think I was quite mindful about what I was feeling and what Celtic gave to me back then, so I was pretty grateful as well. So, no, I think my mentality was the same.
“For me, it’s like I never left. And when I came in for the first day, it felt like it was the same, and it gave me a lot of comfortable space to to live in really.”
The 26-year-old already scaled the mountain with the club during his first spell, and is hoping to add a Premiership and Scottish Cup to the five trophies he won the first time around. But there’s always another target to aim for as he went on: “There’s always things to to get better, obviously like winning titles and very good performances in the Champions League. That’s what you aim for in the end, but there’s so many things we can always achieve.
“When you reach a mountain, here’s always another one to reach again, so it’s kind of never over. You reach something, but there’s always something new. And I’m no different to that. I know what I I want to do, I know what I want to achieve, and that’s it.”
A quick glance at Jota’s Instagram shows he’s been making the most of the Glasgow sunshine recently. He’s a man who likes a bit of first-hand interaction with the punters in his downtime too – just ask the patrons of the Brazen Head pub where he popped in during his first spell in Glasgow.
“The sun never goes out in Glasgow, so whenever the sun goes out in Glasgow, we must go out,” he smiled. “And yeah, that’s it. I obviously come from a completely different background and any opportunity I have to feel a bit at home, I just have to go and enjoy.
“It’s part of the job (being recognised on the street), and it’s just a matter of adapting. It’s, it’s not the best of the situation sometimes, but you have to live with it.”
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