Ange Postecoglou has labelled the permanent signings of Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers as 'critical' as he hailed the club for backing him on the significant outlays.
The Celtic boss landed both stars on loan during his first season from Benfica and Tottenham and after establishing themselves as key members of his team and real fans' favourites, the Hoops shelled out to bring both back to Glasgow in big-money deals.
The pair have been vital this season as the Scottish champions look on course to land a domestic Treble. The League Cup is in the bag while the Premiership can be won for a second successive season under Postecoglou as early as this weekend at Tynecastle. Only Inverness now stand in the way of Celtic and the Scottish Cup - the one trophy that escaped them last season - after Jota's winning goal at Hampden against Rangers on Sunday.
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The Hoops gaffer has described both as 'tremendous assets' as he outlined how important they are to his team. He said: "Have they made a difference? Absolutely. When you look at that window last summer, it may seem like we didn't do too much. But those two signings were pretty critical.
"The club backed me fully on those. They were significant outlays for a club of our size. It's not arm-twisting, but it does require trust and faith on both sides.
"Celtic have to trust my judgement in that, and I need to trust the club is going to make the right decision. It isn't limitless what we can spend. I knew that those were going to be our two major acquisitions, and we weren't going to have a lot of money to spend outside of that.
"But I thought we were getting two very good footballers who would make us better than last year. Everyone was aligned with that.
"We tried before we bought, so we knew what we were getting! And, more importantly for me, I knew that they would be better. It wasn't just about spending the money to get players back who did well for us last year.
"I knew that they could be better this year - and they have been tremendous assets for us."
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