Jota proves Celtic gut instinct correct by mixing it with world assist kings despite odds stacked against him

Jota was sure Celtic was the right choice for him when he opted to make his loan from Benfica permanent last summer. And his instincts were good after mixing it with some of the best when it comes to assists.

The Portuguese is eighth the top hundred architects of goals on the planet based on pure numbers over the last year ahead of superstars such as Neymar of PSG and Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele. Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham Hotspur) and Arsenal’s red hot Bukayo Saka can’t match the Parkhead wide man when it comes to laying it on a plate for his teammates.

Research from the CIES Football Observatory has ranked the top creators around the globe on a series of metrics. These include straight number of assists, coefficient level and age, which lead to an overall score based on the league you play in. At 15 assists, Jota is in the top ten, with Ajax skipper Dusan Tadic leading the way on 19, while Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi are only three and two ahead of Jota respectively.

What counts against him though, is the coefficient level of matches played. The Scottish Premiership is ranked at a level of 0.64 according to CIES, meaning it's at the lower end of the scale. By comparison, the English Premier League is the highest at 1.30 and Spain’s La Liga 1.25. This mean’s Jota falls some way down the rankings when his overall score is applied. At 9.6, that puts him 34th overall.

Outside of the top 5 leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France), Jota is fifth worldwide based on his overall score and sixth in terms of pure assists. He’s the only SPFL-based player to even feature, which shows the levels he’s performing compared to Celtic’s domestic competition.

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