Celtic announce signing of Jota on five-year-deal as Portuguese winger seals permanent £6.5million move from Benfica

Celtic have finally announced the permanent signing of fans’ favourite Jota on a five-year-deal from Benfica.

The 23-year-old winger enjoyed an impressive first season on loan at Parkhead, scoring 13 goals and providing 14 assists in 40 appearances to help the club win the Scottish Premiership title and League Cup in manager Ange Postecoglou’s first season in charge.

The Portuguese star previously revealed he had “fell in love” with the Hoops and has now finalised his switch for £6.3million plus a sell-on clause to become Celtic’s fourth signing of the summer.

He joins Cameron Carter-Vickers, Benjamin Siegrist and Alexandro Bernabei in committing their long-term future to the Scottish champions as Celtic gear up for the 2022/23 campaign.

Jota’s loan deal last season included an option to buy for 7.5m euros (£6.5m) and the Glasgow giants triggered the clause to bring him back on a permanent basis.

Speaking after penning his deal with the club, Jota told Celtic TV: “I’m feeling great. It’s a tremendous step in my career.

‘I’m really happy to have joined Celtic and I just want to give some joy to the fans, to our team and conquer as many things as we can.’

“It was a great experience last season. I already knew, more or less, how big Celtic was but I think people only realise once you are inside the club and inside the structure.

“With the season that we had with all the winning and all the trophies, I think it was very good for everyone, and I just got to know the club in another perspective, and I just fell in love. So I think it’s a good time to be here and I just want to develop.”

Jota is aiming to replicate the success of last season by adding further silverware to the club’s trophy cabinet after contributing several important moments last term.

Comenting on his close-season break, he stated: “I really missed the Celtic fans and Celtic Park, the atmosphere and even the away games, I think they are terrific. It’s something that I was not expecting and it really pushed me.

‘I just want to get back on the pitch as soon as possible and to do our thing because we want to do better this year, and we are going to do better this year.’

Celtic are targeting three domestic trophies next season and the exciting prospect of Champions League group stage football, which Jota admits is something he is looking forward to.

He explained: “Ange has a philosophy of the game which wants us to be better in every training session and every game, so he aims for us to be better and better every week, and that’s something a player likes because there’s no point staying on the same level always.

“You want to develop, you want to be better and you want to achieve others things, and in here at the club we’re ready for that and we’re getting ready for all the competitions ahead.

“Pre-season is always a very important time for us to prepare for what’s ahead because during the season we don’t have the time to be meticulous about all our tactics or whatever.

‘So we need to work hard now because this will be the place until the end of the season, and that’s what we’re going to look for, to get the mind and the body ready for what’s coming.’

“Trophy Day was amazing. Once we got to the celebrations, everyone just entered in a pure state of freedom and that’s what happened.

“And I just want that thing to happen a lot of times, to give the joy and the happiness to our fans, and let’s work. We are here to work.”