Why Jota 2.0 is a different Celtic animal as 18 months of 'mental' torture give returning hero new dimension

The Saudi Premier League dream might have turned into something more like a nightmare for Jota. But the returning Hoops hero insists he’ll never have any regrets over leaving adulation in Glasgow’s east end for abandonment in the Middle East.

Not when he says that experience means he is returning to Celtic Park as a stronger person with ambitions to be an even better player. Turfed out of Al-Ittihad’s domestic squad due to rules over the number of foreign players, the Portuguese wing king’s first and only season in the desert may have burned out faster than he could ever have imagined.

In total he made 16 appearances in the league for the Jeddah-based club before being moved on to Rennes last summer where again he found himself on the periphery of a starting XI. The 25-year-old admits the last 18 months felt more like 10 years. But he never downed tools. Never gave up fighting. The experience of training alongside superstars including Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante at Ittihad helped. As did appearing on the same park as his idol Ronaldo in one of his few appearances.

Now his journey has landed him back at Celtic, quicker than he might have ever expected, he’s desperate to prove the risk he took leaving a place where he was loved was worth it as he looks to reconnect with his adoring fans.

He said: “Decisions happened and life happened. During our path, a lot of things you cannot control happen. Then you have to deal with it. I had to overcome those obstacles and difficulties.

“In the end I wanted things to be different and they weren’t. But that’s life. And the way I see myself throughout this moment is the way I come out from it, you know? So, I’m proud of the choices I’ve made and I’m proud of the way I came out from