Celtic winger Jota will be sidelined for between six to nine months with a cruciate ligament injury, with manager Brendan Rodgers saying it "shone a light" on his club's need to strengthen their forward line in the summer transfer market.
The 26-year-old, who returned to the Scottish champions from Rennes in January, picked up a knee injury during Saturday's 5-0 win over Dundee United.
Jota was taken off in the first-half at Tannadice as Celtic sealed a fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership title, the Portuguese wide man leaving the stadium on crutches.
"Sadly, it's not good news for him or for us really," Rodgers told Sky Sports. "It didn't look as bad, but when he had the scan, it looks like he'll probably be out for six to nine months.
"So he's done his cruciate and a little bit of other damage in there. He's quite upbeat and philosophical about it."
Jota impressed in his first spell with Celtic, initially on loan from Benfica, but after being sold to Al-Ittihad in 2023, he fell out of favour with the Saudi side and at Rennes.
He has made 16 appearances, nine of them starts, after returning to Glasgow, scoring five goals, but Rodgers revealed that they had expected him to kick on after having "a really strong pre-season" to improve his level of fitness.
"Sadly, that has interrupted that side of it," he said. "He's had a challenging couple of years really after his move away from here to Saudi, but I have to say, he is a very positive young guy and I'm pretty sure he'll come back from this a stronger person and player."
The 26-year-old, who returned to the Scottish champions from Rennes in January, picked up a knee injury during Saturday's 5-0 win over Dundee United.
Jota was taken off in the first-half at Tannadice as Celtic sealed a fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership title, the Portuguese wide man leaving the stadium on crutches.
"Sadly, it's not good news for him or for us really," Rodgers told Sky Sports. "It didn't look as bad, but when he had the scan, it looks like he'll probably be out for six to nine months.
"So he's done his cruciate and a little bit of other damage in there. He's quite upbeat and philosophical about it."
Jota impressed in his first spell with Celtic, initially on loan from Benfica, but after being sold to Al-Ittihad in 2023, he fell out of favour with the Saudi side and at Rennes.
He has made 16 appearances, nine of them starts, after returning to Glasgow, scoring five goals, but Rodgers revealed that they had expected him to kick on after having "a really strong pre-season" to improve his level of fitness.
"Sadly, that has interrupted that side of it," he said. "He's had a challenging couple of years really after his move away from here to Saudi, but I have to say, he is a very positive young guy and I'm pretty sure he'll come back from this a stronger person and player."
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