Jota on transfer cull list as Celtic hero part of trio named for the exit door to appease 'heated' crisis

Jota has reportedly joined a list three-strong of players set for the boot at Al-Ittihad, with the atmosphere at the Saudi club 'dominated by tension'.

The Portuguese winger sealed the move of a lifetime to the ever-growing Middle Eastern league, leaving behind Treble-winning success at Celtic for the lure of Al-Ittihad. The youngster walked away from Champions League football under new boss Brendan Rodgers, but left his old club a hefty £25million to play with after Nuno Espirito Santo's men paid the big bucks for him to join world beaters Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante in Jeddah. But since the 24-year-old's arrival, the landscape of his future has changed.

According to reports, Jota looks set to be shipped out of Ittihad as they look to comply with squad rules on foreign players, with a loan within the Saudi Pro League being touted. The big-money side are ambitiously looking to bring Liverpool's star Mo Salah to the Middle East, but so far reports suggest the Egyptian is fully focused on life at Anfield.

Yet in the case of Jota, he joins two other stars in Brazilian Marcelo Grohe and the Egyptian Tariq Hamed named on a three-man list 'close' to leaving the club to make way for bigger deals. Newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat via Marca now say Jota getting the boot will be a move in aim of appeasing the atmosphere in the club which is claimed to be "dominated by tension," and "more than heated."

The same reports claim the club are having an "internal crisis" due to the instability of the foreign market to bring new players in. Espirito Santo admitted there would be further movement in the market, and that Jota's position is one the club are looking at.

He said this week: “These are things that I cannot talk about. There is a