Celtic winger Jota lifts the lid on 18 months of injury anguish… ‘I’ve met some demons and had talks with them’

DAILYMAIL.COM • 46m ago

By CALUM CROWE, SCOTTISH DEPUTY CHIEF SPORTS WRITER 18:44 19 Oct 2026, updated 18:58 19 Oct 2026

When Celtic beat Dundee United 5-0 back in April 2025, the overriding emotion at Tannadice was one of euphoria and celebration.

It was a victory which clinched another league title and the fact that Brendan Rodgers’ side had won it in such style would doubtless have made it taste even sweeter.

Yet, for Jota, it turned into a day he will never forget – but for all the wrong reasons. The Portuguese winger went off with a knee injury and so began a long exile and the toughest period of his career.

By his own admission, he did not fully realise the severity of the injury that would ultimately keep him out of action for 18 months.

‘I knew something happened, but to start to think the worst-case scenario, it doesn’t help you,’ said Jota when reflecting on his injury hell.

‘I was just expecting to see how the examinations were going to be. I didn’t want to make the worst from it. But obviously it ended up being a long time.’

HOLT: Man City facing HUGE points deduction that guarantees relegation108.8K viewing nowTaylor Swift snaps at fan filming her and pleads with them to stop97.8K viewing nowUS Air Force service member dies from horrific mishap at football game41.5K viewing now Substitute Jota produced plenty of his old tricks in Celtic’s 7-1 thrashing of Hearts on SundayThere were times last season when it felt like Jota had become the forgotten man at Celtic. There were murmurings of a comeback, then further setbacks, with some questioning whether he would ever return at all.

For his part, he never doubted that he would eventually fight his way back. But what made the situation more difficult was the fact that Celtic were toiling so badly for much of the campaign.

Rodgers would walk away in acrimonious circumstances, before the Wilfried Nancy nightmare plunged the club further into the mire. Jota was powerless to help, relying only on the support of family and team-mates to pull him through the bleakest of situations.

The light at the end of the tunnel finally arrived just over a month ago when he was able to take part in full training once again. He made his long-awaited comeback as a substitute in the victory over Motherwell just over a week ago, before coming off the bench at half-time in the 7-1 hammering of Hearts yesterday.

Just a few hours later, a few clips had gone viral on social media of Jota going through his full repertoire of tricks and making some of the Hearts defenders look rather silly with his trademark tricks and dummies.

He would not claim to be back to his best but it was the clearest indicator yet that this is a player who, on his day, remains arguably the finest natural talent in Scottish football.

Opening up on his battle to overcome personal demons during his long lay-off, Jota explained: ‘It’s like a rollercoaster of emotions. We could stay here for two weeks for me to speak about everything that was going on in my head.

‘I mean, in the end, it’s part of everyone’s life, you know? Everyone struggles. The thing is that in our job, I just cannot be out there to play football, which is the one thing I love most.

‘You kind of feel empty. The hardest part is that there is a part of yourself that goes away and you never know when it’s going to come back.

‘But certainly other people, and I always try to see from this perspective, they have worse problems. I always think there’s someone in a worse position than you.

‘So I’m just grateful to — and I think I’m privileged to — be in such a wonderful sport and to have all of these experiences.

‘Being able to play against Hearts and be back at Celtic Park once again, it shows that it matters, like all of the struggle. It matters because these moments are unique.

‘There’s moments where you feel like you’re down and you cannot see any light, but that doesn’t mean that you stop believing.

‘It’s very painful when you cannot help the team (like during last season). You want to be there and help them but you can’t and you don’t know when you will be again.

‘I think I’ve met some demons and I’ve had some good talks with them. I think we developed a good relationship and we are all on the same page now and we can laugh about everything that happened.

‘I think if you don’t grow from a situation like this, it’s because you didn’t learn anything. Now I can see things clearer.

‘In the recovery process, it’s not always a clear trajectory. It’s not a perfect line. Like it’s not every day we’ll get better.

‘Maybe you get better, then you go down again, but then you go up again and you’re already better than what you were before.

‘So it’s just like a mountain where you keep on building and then eventually you reach the peak.

‘My aim was always that I want to come back fit. Whatever time I need to take, because I still have a long career in front of me and I’m still young. So there’s no rush, let’s do everything correctly and just trust the process.’

Given that he is not registered in the Europa League squad, Jota will be unable to play in Thursday night’s clash with Celta Vigo at Parkhead.

Having lost both of their opening fixtures, Martin O’Neill has admitted that it will be a must-win against the Spaniards if Celtic are to have any hopes of progressing to the knockout stages.

But Jota could feature against Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday as he continues to build his way up to full match fitness once again.

He thanked O’Neill for the patience and support shown during his long lay-off and is confident he will eventually recapture his best form but insists his injury ordeal has proven that nothing can ever be taken for granted in football.

‘I have had a couple of talks with the manager,’ added the Portuguese winger. ‘I think he was just giving me the time to be healthy and I value that because maybe in another place I wouldn’t have that possibility.

‘And here they gave me the possibility to return fit, healthy and clear-minded. I feel ready to go again, but obviously there are metrics and stuff we need to be careful with (in terms of starting games too soon).

‘I didn’t play in a long time. Now I just want to enjoy every single second on the pitch. You learn to really value it, maybe more than before.

‘It teaches you never to take anything for granted. That’s a big thing you learn when you go through something like this.’

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