A lot of Celtic fans were curious why Jota was not present at the club's title celebrations. One theory floated was that he did not want to be a part of it, as he did not play a single minute of football this season and might have felt that he did not deserve to be there as a result.

But then, another theory that many had was that Jota had suffered another injury setback. Unfortunately, it looks like the latter might have been the reason.

Jota has been out injured for more than a year now. He suffered an ACL injury in the second half of last season, after actually making a positive contribution following a return to Celtic from Rennes in a €10 million move.

Initially, the expectation had been that he would be in the middle of this campaign sometime before the turn of the year. But that was pushed back towards the second half of the season.

Then, it emerged that he would miss the entirety of the 25/26 campaign. And now, there is another setback in Jota's recovery process, which has pushed back his return date by several more months at once.

According to CeltsAreHere, Jota will not be ready in time for Celtic’s pre-season. The Portuguese winger has suffered several setbacks during his rehab process. And now, the current estimate for a possible return is around October or November.

Obviously, that is going to depend on how the rest of his recovery process goes and whether he is able to avoid any further setbacks.

Many fans are starting to worry about the long-term future of Jota though. Could this somehow turn out to be a career-ending injury, after so many setbacks? One would hope not. But you cannot help but he worried about the worst-case scenario at this point.

Even in the best-case scenario, it is hard to imagine that Jota will be anywhere near the same player after seeing the magnitude of the issue. We can only hope that he makes a recovery as soon as possible and is back to doing what he does best.

As for Celtic, this should change summer transfer plans. They will need to sign multiple wingers this summer. Expect Michel-Ange Balikwisha to head for the exit door. Sebastian Tounekti does not seem to be good enough to be a regular starter either. And now, the fresh setback to Jota.

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