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.
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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
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