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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

Jota trends globally as Celtic transfer exit encourages confident Saudi punters to claim him early

Jota's Celtic exit could be on the way but Al Ittihad fans already have the Portuguese star down as their man.

The 24-year-old has lit up Parkhead with dazzling tricks and goals since his initial 2021 loan arrival from Benfica but less than a month after his emotional goodbye to former boss Ange Postecoglou, the winger could be writing a farewell to the adoring fans he has gathered. Saudi Arabian big spenders Al Ittihad have identified him as the next man they want after Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante, with a £25m deal and eye-watering wages offered as part of their European raids.

And fans of the Jeddah club are in on the act. The hashtag #JotaisYellow has been prominently used by the middle-east club's fans and the name ' Jota ' itself is a trending sports topic on Twitter. There is the caveat of Liverpool's Jota also having some usual discussion around him in Merseyside circles, but it's his countryman's move to Saudi that is a big reason behind this surge in interactions.

Several clips of the winger's Celtic goals have been used with the hashtag, alongside photoshops of him in the middle-easy club's black and yellow kit. For now, it's not a done deal.

But an announcement could be approaching as fans of the Premiership champions brace for a key exit. Reo Hatate has also been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League but his agent shot that rumour down earlier this month.

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