DON’T SAY CELTS ARE BACK.. WE’VE NEVER BEEN AWAY SAYS WING KING JOTA
JOTA might sidestep questions about his future the same way he skips past defenders.
But the Celtic attacker can’t be accused of slinking away from the demands of playing at Parkhead.
The Portuguese has thrown himself into life with the Hoops and it’s already clear he knows what’s required.
Jota even scoffed at the notion Celtic are somehow back in business after reaching the Premier Sports Cup Final on Saturday.
As far as he’s concerned, it’s business as usual.
Ange Postecoglou’s men will take on Hibs on December 19, a chance for the club to get back to sticking trophies in the cabinet after ending up empty-handed last term for the first time in more than a decade.
But Jota reckons Postecoglou and his side are simply meeting their commitments.
Asked if Celts are finally on the way back, quick as a flash he said: “Celtic never left, my friend.
“We are always here. Of course sometimes there are more difficult periods and teams go through some changes.
“But our team is solid and we are doing good things.
“We believe in us, which is the most important thing, and I know many people are starting to believe in us as well. So just let us do our thing and we will see.”
Jota was doing his thing at Hampden as he put on a show against St Johnstone.
The 22-year-old lapped up the big occasion and relished the celebrations at the end.
He also knew how important it was to the Celtic support to get through the tie in a week when they’d bid farewell to one of their favourite sons.
Jota was just happy the players were able to pay their own tribute on the pitch.
He said: “It was good we won because we knew it was a huge loss for Celtic and we wanted to give a last dance for Bertie Auld.
“I think we did him proud. Now we just have to keep going.”
Jota is eying up a winner’s medal at Celtic but he’s not a man to stare too far into the future, whether it’s his own or the club’s.
The Cup Final can wait. The on-loan Benfica star is not looking beyond Bayer Leverkusen this Thursday as Celtic look to hang on to their hopes of reaching the Europa League knockout stages.
Jota said: “Yes, we have the Final to look forward to but first we have some more important games because the next game is always the most important one.
“We are going to think about those first, then when it comes the time we will think about the Final.
“Of course I would love to win everything. But it’s too soon to think about it, we don’t have a final in our next game.
“We have a Europa League game. We will focus on that.”
The same goes for his own destiny. Celtic fans are fevered about the possibility of landing the attacker on a permanent deal before other sides across the continent get any big ideas. Former Celtic striker John Hartson reckons teams such as Bayern Munich and Paris StGermain might come sniffing if he keeps up the form that won him player of the month for October and put him in with a fair shout of doing so for November.
But Jota shrugs off the speculation. He’s had a rough few years and he’d prefer just to enjoy the right now rather than worry about the right next move.
He said: “A lot of people ask that but my focus is not on that right now. My focus is on the team, on our games, on our victories, on the process. I just want to stick with it and be a better person and player every day. That is my aim.
“I never think in the future, I think in the present.
“I am a present person. That is what I am thinking.
“I wake up every day thinking, ‘Today I am going to do this, this and this. I want to be better at this, this and this. What can I do?’.
“I am not thinking about what is going to happen next week or next month or next year. Just let me enjoy football and be happy.”