There is some great news for Celtic as the player's return, and when it will happen, has finally been confirmed.
It has been largely doom and gloom at Celtic over the past few months. The club lost three games on the trot going into the international break. Two of them were against the Rangers, both home and away.
That must have dented the team's confidence. But to be honest, the Bhoys have struggled since that 5-1 away defeat against LASK in the second leg of the Champions League play-off.
There are some question marks around the future of Martin O'Neill as well. There have been some suggestions that the Northern Irishman could choose to walk away from his post.
Cameron Carter-Vickers' recent comments have also suggested that the entire dressing room might not be happy with how the coaching has been done lately, with a call for more of a 'script'.
Naturally, Celtic fans will want any piece of good news they can get. And fortunately, there is one that should delight the supporters.
Celtic return finally set to happen
According to The Scottish Sun, Jota is finally set to make his first Celtic appearance in 18 months in a bounce game against Falkirk.
Jota has been out of action since April of 2024, which is when he had suffered a serious ACL injury, which has kept him out of action for a year-and-a-half.
Jota had been brought back in the winter transfer window of 2024 and had actually made a promising start to his second spell at Celtic Park until that injury.
Now, it remains to be seen how he looks, coming back from an injury of that magnitude. It would not be realistic to expect him to be anywhere near his exceptional best.
What does Jota add to Martin O'Neill's team?
So, a Jota return probably won't be the catalyst for Celtic to turn their season around. But at the very least, it gives Martin O'Neill another option on the wing.
Celtic do not have much on the left at this point in time. Yang Hyun-jun has been away on international duty for South Korea and he has been missed.
In his absence, Sebastian Tounekti has played a ton but he has not been able to impress the supporters. The Tunisian is viewed by many as the weak link in this team.
Someone like Jota adds a goal contributor to this Celtic team. That is something they are missing on their wings at this point in time. Of course, that is if he can reproduce his usual standards upon his return.
