Jota 'wanted' Celtic return amid Saudi transfer farce claims Ittihad insider as panic button pushed during squad cull

Misfit Jota "would not have hesitated" to return to Celtic as he searches for a last-gasp Al-Ittihad escape route, it has been claimed.

The 24-year-old has endured a torrid spell since leaving Parkhead in a bumper £25m move to the Saudi Pro League champions. Off the back of lifting a Treble with the Hoops he made a mega-money move to join the likes of Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante in Ittihad - but he now faces the prospect of being left out of the squad for the upcoming campaign.

Saudi clubs only allowed to register eight foreign players in their squad each season the Portuguese star looks set to miss the cut and could be without regular first-team football until transfer business ramps up again in January. The arrival of Luiz Felipe takes the number of players from overseas to nine - and reports claim that either Jota or goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe could be dropped from the matchday list when the squad list is unveiled on September 15.

Speaking to Saudi TV program Action Ya Dawry Ittihad inside Hamed Al-Balawi reckons Jota would have been keen to make a return to Parkhead on loan before the transfer window closed in Scotland. But as it stands a move the UAE Pro League or Turkish giants Fenerbahce appears the most likely with both transfer windows remaining open - but the summer signing curtain will be brought down in Turkey on September 15.

Al-Balawi urged Itthad to sideline to winger rather than their first choice goalkeeper stating: "Dispense with a foreign player who does not participate, like Jota, and if the coach feels embarrassed to dispense with him he can choose a name other than Grohe. But I think if the coach was convinced of the player, he would have played him continuously.

"The player would not have