Jota sees Celtic transfer 'demand' spark live Saudi TV debate as the REAL driver behind Ittihad move divides opinion

It seemed an obvious connection that brought him from Celtic to Al Ittihad - but all is not as it seems as a Saudi Arabian TV debate brings the Jota deal into full view.

The Portuguese winger made himself a hero at Parkhead under Ange Postecoglou but made a shock exit during the transfer window, joining Al Ittihad for £25m. Countryman Nuno Espirito Santo made him one of his big Saudi Pro League buys but two months on, Jota faces exclusion from the squad after failing to make a hasty exit before the end of transfer period, with his name likely on the chopping block to meet the league cap on foreign players.

It's a situation that has divided opinions and sparked debate on the Action with Walid show in the middle-east, which has 3.3m followers on X (or Twitter). Sports critic Mohammed Al-Sheikh sent his accusations towards the gaffer. He said: “Nuno Santo was the one who nominated him.

"This indicates two possibilities. Either Nuno Santo is short-sighted or that Jota needs time to adapt to the new team."

Imad Al-Salmi had a bleak verdict on what the future looked like for Jota at The Tigers. He said: "Jota will not remain in the ranks of Al-Ittihad Club for long, even though he has a high market value."

But the third member of the panel, Talha Ahmed, had a more loaded opinion in suggesting it was NOT Espirito Santo who approved the Celtic deal. He explained: “It is possible that Al-Ittihad coach Nuno Santo was not the one who demanded a contract with Jota. Otherwise he will have to support this deal in order for it to succeed, especially since it came with a large sum of money."