Jota's Celtic to Saudi transfer too good to turn down as trailblazer Martin Boyle talks up Benzema factor

Martin Boyle reckons Jota couldn’t turn down his megabucks move to the Saudi Pro League and the opportunity to become Karim Benzema’s supply man.

The Hibs star was a trailblazer when he left Easter Road in a £2.5million move to Al-Faisaly 18 months ago. But while Boyle’s stint in the Middle East was cut short after his club were relegated, leading to a sharp return to Leith, Jota has joined an Al-Ittihad side packed with superstar quality including five-time Champions League winner Benzema.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton took a swipe at the Portuguese ace in his Record Sport column, claiming he’d thrown his career in the bin and would soon become a forgotten man. And section of Celtic supporters have slaughtered the 24-year-old for ditching Celts in favour of Saudi royals too – despite the club raking in £25m. But Boyle insists it’s a job opportunity that would be too good to turn down.

Where Karamako Dembele and the 5 others tipped to dominate world football are now as towering Celtic prediction falls short

He said: “Everyone has their reasons, family reasons or whatever. Because he’s young, he maybe gets a bit of criticism for it but at the end of the day it’s a job opportunity.

“He hasn’t been at Celtic long and he’s made them a lot of money. To be fair, he’s picked a decent team. He’s going to be playing with N’golo Kante and Benzema. It’s not exactly teams off the grid.

“Fair play to him. I mean Benzema, I won’t speak on behalf of him but he’s won five Champions Leagues.

“Cristiano Ronaldo going to the league set a trend. Seeing players like that go over, I don’t see why others can’t do it.

“It was only a matter of time ‘till everyone jumped on the bandwagon and joined him. It’s going to be a right competitive