Jota was born in Lisbon on 30 March 1999 (age 27) and came through Benfica’s system before his career found sharper definition elsewhere. The early loan route helped move him beyond promise and into senior football, which was probably the point.
Celtic took him from Benfica in August 2021, using him mainly from the left. He wore 17 and quickly became more than a tidy wide option. Across his Celtic spells he won three Premiership titles, one Scottish Cup and two League Cups, with one further Scottish Cup runners-up medal. His most productive league season came in 2022-23, when he scored 11 goals in 33 appearances.
The £25m move to Al-Ittihad in July 2023 was a major sale for Celtic and a significant shift for the player. His time after leaving Glasgow took in Al-Ittihad and Rennes before a return to Celtic, where he added the 2024-25 Premiership title to the honours already collected in his first spell.
His market value is around £4.5m, according to Transfermarkt. Jota’s career has had its detours, but the clearest football of it has come at Celtic: width, goals, and enough end product to make the affection understandable without needing to overdo it.
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