£25m Celtic hero ‘axed’ from Al-Ittihad squad over Saudi foreign player rule as ex-Rangers boss loan bid fails

Former Celtic star Jota has been excluded from Al-Ittihad’s squad for league matches after falling victim to Saudi Arabia’s foreign player rule.

The Portuguese winger’s career has been thrown up in the air just two months after he signed for the big-spending Saudi club in a deal worth around £25million - equalling Celtic’s record transfer fee following Kieran Tierney’s 2019 sale to Arsenal.

The hefty price tag indicated he would become a central figure in head coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s long-term plans, but the foreign player laws in the country only allow a maximum of eight players to be registered at one time.

And the recent signing of Brazilian-born defender Luiz Felipe from Rangers’ Europa league rivals Real Betis has spelled bad news for ex-Hoops hero Jota.

Espirto Santo has reportedly made the judgment call to register their latest recruit and leave Jota out because he would NOT be given the necessary game time required to make an impact and has therefore been deemed surplus to requirements.

It comes after former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard failed in his last-ditch attempt to sign Jota on loan for Saudi Pro League rivals Al-Ettifaq before the transfer deadline last night, with the wide man now likely to face several months in limbo until the window opens again in January.

According to IttiMania Twitter, an agreement was eventually reached between the two clubs, but with only 30 minutes until the window closed there was not enough time for the paperwork to be completed.

It remains to be seen if Gerrard will re-ignite his interest in an attempt to add some further quality to his Ettifaq squad or if Jota will cut his losses and return to Europe after a disastrous spell.

Jot’a former club Benfica recently outlined they pocketed a whopping £12m from the deal which took him from Parkhead to Saudi Arabia, leaving the Scottish champions with a profit in the region of £13m without taking into account the wages spent on the player.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has been trying all summer to find a suitable replacement for Jota, with Honduras international Luis Palma signed from Greek side Aris Thessaloniki. It’s expected that Jota will have other suitors willing to splash the cash to cover his mega money Ittihad wages.