Jota seals Celtic transfer exit as Al Ittihad drop £25million to land Portuguese winger in life changing move

Jota has completed his mega money move from Celtic to Al-Ittihad.

At a time when Saudi clubs are dropping major dollar in order to tempt stars from Europe, the Portuguese's departure has still come as a shock after a stellar two seasons at Parkhead. Ange Postecoglou paid £6.5million to make his loan from Benfica (who will receive a 30 per cent sell on fee) a permanent switch last summer. It proved a shrewd move, with Jota helping the Hoops to a clean sweep of domestic trophies.

Money has always talked, and the Saudi pro League outfit have screamed rather than whispered in the player's ear with an eye-watering transfer fee and salary that was too good for club or player to turn down. He now teams up with former Real Madrid icon Karim Benzema and Chelsea's ex-midfielder enforcer N'Golo Kante in the Middle East. Former Hearts boss Ian Cathro will oversee Jota in training, having becoming first team coach at Al-Ittihad last year.

Jota made 83 appearances in total for Celtic, scoring 28 times. A habit of netting against Rangers did him no harm, while his assists weren't far behind, providing 26 over two seasons. He signs a three-year deal in Saudi.

The Saudi club had a full-on signing video ready, which shows boss Espirito Santo plucking Jota's name from a pack of cards with the hashtag Jota is Yellow.

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