SNS GroupCeltic have received bad news on Jota’s knee injury, with the winger ruled out for the rest of the season and facing “six to nine” months on the sidelines.
The Portuguese star was substituted after an awkward fall 35 minutes in the 5-0 win at Dundee United that saw Celtic secure the Premiership title, and he was on crutches when he joined his team-mates for their post-match celebrations.
Jota’s injury has now been assessed and it’s been confirmed that not only will he miss Sunday’s Old Firm match against Rangers and the Scottish Cup final, he’s not expected to return until deep into next season.
“Sadly for us and for him, he’ll be out for a period of time, probably six to nine months,” manager Brendan Rodgers said.
“It’s the cruciate and it was worse than we had hoped.
“He starts on his journey of recovery from that now.”
The winger returned to Celtic in January, signing a five-year deal to move from Rennes, 18 months after Celtic had banked a club record £35m fee from his sale to Al Ittihad.
He quickly recaptured the form that made him a fans’ favourite in his first spell at Parkhead and has five goals and two assists from his 16 appearances.
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