Owen Hargreaves delivers honest verdict on Celtic attacker Jota

By Will Butcher

Owen Hargreaves thinks Celtic need to keep Jota on a permanent basis, after the winger scored again – with Hargreaves full of praise on BT Sport.

The 22-year-old winger netted his fourth goal in 13 games for Celtic, cutting inside from the left and lashing a curling effort into the near post.

It bounced kindly, into the back of the net. A brilliant goal, for a brilliant player. Jota is becoming increasingly important in an exciting Celtic side.

Goals from Kyogo and Liel Abada saw Celtic pick up three points, despite conceding twice themselves. A crucial win, keeping their hopes alive.

Celtic are keen for European football after Christmas and they now have that – albeit, the Europa Conference League if the finish in third.

But they can remain in the Europa League if they can get a result in their next two games – sitting a point behind Spanish outfit Real Betis.

Hargreaves gave his verdict on winger Jota, who has a permanent clause in his current Celtic loan – worth what is proving to be, a bargain £6.5million.

“Jota is a terrific player. I love it when wingers are direct. The attackers love playing together, clinical. The club need to find a way of keeping him.”

Hargreaves on Jota: Celtic must do everything they can to keep him

Luckily, that everything, is simply paying a pre-agreed £6.5million permanent clause. In this day and age, that is an absolute steal for Celtic.

Celtic are not going to get themselves a player of better quality – four goals and five assists in 13 – than Jota, at that price.

In fact, they will do well to find a player as good as Jota for double the price they can sign him for. Celtic will do well to activate the clause now.

Doing it as soon as possible gives Benfica no chance of trying to convince the winger to stay. They might want to do that, if they are watching.