Much like with the belated sale of Matt O’Riley this time around, there was no doubt a sense of just how would Celtic cope without the devastating brilliance of Portuguese wizard, Jota, following his move to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023.
As it happens, life after the winger – who scored and assists 54 goals for the Old Firm side in just 83 games – has been relatively smooth, with Brendan Rodgers steering the club to a domestic double last term, with further dominance looking set to follow in the current campaign.
Meanwhile, Jota himself has perhaps realised that the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere, with the 25-year-old’s £25m switch to Al-Ittihad going down like a lead balloon, culminating in a swift exit to Ligue 1 side Rennes this summer.
Now part of a side that is staring relegation in the face in France’s top-flight, the one-time Benfica man has scored just once in seven league games this term, having endured a simply wretched 18 months or so.
Back at Parkhead, Jota’s remarkable impact in a Hoops shirt certainly hasn’t been forgotten, although there are likely to be few who yearn for his return to Glasgow, such has been the statement showings of Rodgers’ current attacking crop…
Celtic's attacking record this season
For much of last term, it looked as if Luis Palma would be the man to fill the Portuguese’s void on the flanks, with the Honduran ending the season with ten goals and ten assists to his name in 36 appearances in all competitions – albeit with just four of those goal involvements coming his way between January and May.
The 24-year-old is now something of a bystander to proceedings, in truth, with Rodgers preferring the relentless presence of Daizen Maeda down the left, the Japanese star taking his goal tally to ten for the season following his fine, curling effort against Club Brugge earlier this week.
On the opposite side, January arrival Nicolas Kuhn continues to tear it up both domestically and in Europe, with the German sensation chalking up 11 goals and a further 11 assists from just 19 appearances.
Interestingly, the former Rapid Vienna star is well on the way to bettering Jota’s best return in a Celtic shirt, with the latter man ‘only’ reaching 27 total goal involvements in each of his two seasons in Glasgow. Kuhn is already at 22, in November.
Rodgers’ new talisman is then not the new Jota, but – dare we say it – even better, should his rampant form be maintained.
Stat (*per game)
Jota (2022/23)
Kuhn (2023/24)
Games
33
11
Goals
11
5
Assists
11
6
Key passes*
1.9
2.1
Big chances created
13
6
Pass accuracy*
80%
75%
Tackles*
1.2
1.8
Interceptions*
0.4
0.3
Successful dribbles*
1.5
1.8
Possession lost*
14.5
12x
It could be said that another Jota is, however, brewing elsewhere in the Hoops squad…
Celtic have a new Jota brewing
The Lisbon-born genius first arrived in Scotland on a season-long loan deal from Benfica, prior to eventually joining permanently in the summer of 2022, for a reported fee of just £6.5m.
That initial temporary swoop certainly proved to be a fruitful one for all concerned, with the hope being that young Alex Valle can follow in those footsteps over the next few months.
Like Jota, the youngster was plucked from an elite European outfit – Barcelona – over the summer on a loan deal, having previously made 29 appearances in Spain’s second tier for Levante in 2023/24.
While the 20-year-old, unlike Jota, operates in a left-back berth, he does possess a creative spark akin to that of the former Parkhead hero, having already chalked up four assists from his first ten appearances under Rodgers thus far.
With speculation still rumbling on over Greg Taylor’s future, with just over six months left to run on his existing deal, now could be a perfect time for a changing of the guard.
In a way, Wednesday’s stalemate with Brugge showed that very scenario occurring, with young Valle immediately making his mark off the bench after replacing Taylor, having teed up Maeda for the crucial equaliser with a neat, threaded pass.
It wasn’t just that early moment alone in which the Barca starlet impressed, however, having regularly looked to get forward down the left flank, while cleverly winning a foul for his side late on with a surging run through the centre.
The assured and confident nature of his play really is a joy to behold, with the only concern resting in the fact that the player and his entourage reportedly rejected the inclusion of an option-to-buy clause as part of the loan move.
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Maybe he harbours a future for himself back in the first-team at Camp Nou, but on the evidence of his bright start in Scottish football, Celtic should be doing all they can to try and engineer a permanent capture at the end of the campaign.
Like with another loan superstar in the form of Jota, snapping up Valle for the foreseeable could result in securing a sizeable profit later down the line. Get him signed!
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1 ByTom CunninghamNov 27, 2024