Jota 'evolution' at Celtic catches Roberto Martinez’s eye as Portugal boss tells star 'you’re on my radar'

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