Jota Al-Ittihad transfer investigation reveals ‘blame’ is on one man – and could lead to shocking return to CELTIC

THE internal investigation into the transfer that brought Jota to Al-Ittihad has reportedly concluded that the blame lies at the feet of one man.

With the Portuguese winger excluded from his new team’s main squad for the upcoming season, the £25m move that brought him to the Saudi champions was called into question by club chiefs.

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Jota’s stint at Al-Ittihad is likely to be a short oneCredit: Getty

The 24-year-old found himself on the outside looking in just a few short months after helping Celtic to the Treble and being hailed by their fans as a hero.

A tense couple of weeks that had the club in crisis led to him being binned after they signed another foreigner, Luiz Felipe, which made Jota surplus to their overseas player qouta.

Al-Ittihad decided to launch an investigation with the aim of finding out who was to blame and according to Koura, manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been made the scapegoat for it all.

It’s claimed he personally pushed for Jota, asking for the player by name, snubbing the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mane to sign his compatriot instead and ‘forcing’ the Jeddah outfit into buying the attacker.

Jota was set to move to Al-Ettifaq on loan just before the transfer window closed but Espirito Santo put a stop to that as well.

The clubs had agreed to a deal but it collapsed just 30 minutes before the deadline.

With his immediate future in Jeddad up in the air, Jota was reportedly offered a lifeline by former boss Ange Postecoglou to reunite with him at Tottenham.

However, the Saudi media are now saying that Celtic are being told they should come back in for the player.

Last night, with no Jota or Karim Benzema, Al-Ittihad drew 0-0 with Al Fayha (for whom ex-Rangers star Fashion Sakala plays for).

N’Golo Kante and Fabinho both started as did Felipe.

The Saudi champions went with a 3-5-2 with Romarinho and Abderrazak Hamdallah leading the line up top and full-backs Ahmed Bamsaud and Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti starting in the wide areas.

It didn’t work however as boss Espirito Santo reverted to a 4-3-3 later on but it was too little too late.

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