FORMER Celtic star Jota has been left out of Saudi side Al-Ittihad’s squad despite being the club’s record signing, according to reports.
The winger, 24, only joined from Celtic for £25million in July.
The signing looked to represent a major coup for Ittihad given that the winger is in the prime of his career.
He scored 15 goals and assisted 12 times during a fine 2022-23 season under Ange Postecoglou at Celtic Park.
However, Al Riyadh sports journalist Hattan Al Najjar reports that Jota has now been jettisoned from Al-Ittihad’s Saudi Premier League squad.
Al Najjar wrote: “Jota will be excluded from the list of [Al Ittihad] professionals in the league, according to the new system.”
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Jota has cut a peripheral figure since joining the Saudi side, playing just 133 minutes across five matches and scoring one goal.
Jota looked to be a statement signing for Al-Ittihad after arriving alongside Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante.
But Saudi sides are limited by the league in how many foreign players they can register and it looks like Jota has not made the cut.
That’s because his new club want to accommodate another new signing,defender Luiz Felipe from Real Betis, who cost a reported £18.8m.
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Al-Ittihad were heavily also linked with a move for Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, with SunSport revealing the Saudi side were prepared to bid up to £215m.
But, Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp held firm in their desire to hold onto the Egyptian superstar.
It is likely Al-Ittihad will return with another bid in January.
Al-Ittihad sit third in the Saudi Pro League table, with four wins and defeat from five games.
Their next fixture will be against Al-Akhdoud on September 14.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
