Neves Filipe, Joao Pedro (Jota)

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Fullname: João Pedro Neves Filipe
aka: Joao Pedro Neves Filipe, Joao Neves Filipe, Jota, Filipe Jota, ‘George Michael’
Born: 30 March 1999
Birthplace: Lisbon, Portugal
Signed (loan): 31 August 2021 (on loan from Benfica for season)
Signed (perm, 1st stint): 1 July 2022 (£6.3m plus 30% sell-on)
Left (1st stint) : 4 July 2023 (to Al-Ittihad, est £25m plus addons less cuts, expected Celtic net £20-25m)
Debut (1st stint): Celtic 3-0 Ross County, SP, 11 Sep 2021
Signed (2nd stint): 27 Jan 2025 (from Rennes est £8m + add-ons)
Left (2nd stint): [….]
Debut (2nd stint): Motherwell 1-3 Celtic, SP, 2 Feb 2025
Position: Left-Winger, Midfielder
Squad No.: 17 (1st stint); 7 (2nd stint)
Internationals: […]
International Caps: [TBC at end of career]
International Goals: [TBC at end of career]

Biog

“They are just different aren’t they? Celtic fans are unbelievable, we are just grateful to have them.”
Jota

On Loan signing

Celtic signed Filipe Jota on a loan (with a £6.5m option to buy) at the end of the 2021 summer transfer window, just as Edouard had left for a bumper transfer fee down south. Celtic needed to bolster the squad under new manager Ange Postecoglou.

Jota was another in the long line of the next young big things in Europe who had fallen way short. There had been genuine big money interest in him in recent years from mega-clubs (notably Real Madrid), but he was now far off those expectations and needed a reboot, hence his loan move to Celtic.

He was a pacy tricky winger who could bamboozle opposition players before sending over a perfect cross or assist from his wing. He put in effort on the field and was one of those players who could easily get the supporters off their seats. He also had an incredible barnet too!

Hitting the ground running he showed his talents that dumbfounded his parent club for letting him go out on loan. He was quickly a fan favourite and many initially deemed him the best player at the club linking up brilliantly with Kyogo to help Celtic in the rebuild under Postecoglou, all three in their debut seasons at Celtic.

The moment that best highlighted his ability was in a 2-0 win v Ferencvaros in the Europa League, with an inch perfect 50 yard long pass through to Kyogo to score a brilliant opener. It was an incredible world class assist and goal, and he was a level above everyone on the pitch on the day. The fans were already clamouring over getting him signed permanent asap.

You could see how much he was enjoying it at Celtic as he joined in with the fan celebrations across the matches as the Celtic resurgence gathered pace. A famous celebration was after scoring he sat down in a lotus yoga position!

He was out injured with a hamstring injury for a short period mid season but on his return after the turn of the year his contribution at least on paper dipped with the stats indicating that he was underperforming in goals and assists. Granted he was rarely poor but a very ineffective performance v Sevco in the Scottish Cup defeat in April 2022 raised certain concerns, it wasn’t the first low key game he’d had of late.

Some put it down to the loss of Kyogo due to injury but he needed to prove himself and not rely on other players. In the last league game v Sevco in the season, he showed his two sides. He scored a brilliant first goal v Sevco but then seemed to be anonymous for the second half. Certain supporters were questioning if Jota had overall delivered enough in the big games, and was he more than just flicks and tricks. Was he too much of a luxury? Harsh but it needed asked as the payout was going to be high.

He’d had an excellent run at the end of the season, and opinion on Jota was high. Overall, he’d had a great season and had made a major contribution in the regaining of the league title. It has to be considered that Jota, like many players who come to Celtic, had never before played in such a hectic season. Jota probably had never before played in as many senior games at this pace in a season in his life. A few players looked like they were carrying the weight of this year, not just Jota, but he could hold his head high.

Permanent Signing (Jul 2022 – June 2023, 1st Stint at Celtic)

Jota agreed a five year contract to convert to permanent with a final deal of £6.3m and a 30% sell-on clause in July 2022 much to the joy of the Celtic support.

He continued where he left off in the previous season, proving his worth on the field and was one who clearly got fans off their seats with his jinking runs and crosses as well as chipping in with goals. The quality of his goals was incredible, including some brilliant long range goals v Aberdeen, St Johnstone. Against Sevco, he was definitely a handful, scoring key goals including the 1-0 Scottish Cup winner in April 2023, and having also scored against them in the prior match (3-2 league match win).

His clenched fist salute after some of his most notable goals became favourite memes across social media, but he took his part in the side very seriously. Off the field he was very regularly found socialising with the support which was a wonderful touch. He was loving life at Celtic as the first team sealed the domestic treble, with his delightful goal sealing the feat in a 3-1 victory over Scottish Cup final victory over a dogged Inverness Caley side (Jun 2023).

His highlight for the season (away from the titles) was a world class free kick v Real Madrid at the Bernabeu (Nov 2022), and there was not a happier & more proud man on this earth at that moment, you could just see the joy on his face:

“[With my goal] it is every kid’s dream. All of us grew up watching these teams and the Spanish league as well. So it was a very good moment for me. My family was in the stands and it was just a proud moment for me and my family.”

His rapport with the fans was becoming legendary, but he backed it up on the field. A cover of the Celtic song for Jota by local singer Ellie Dixon even went viral after she sang the tune beautifully on national radio. Apparently, Jota also liked to practice deejaying as “a little hobby”.

He was one of the most popular Celtic players in recent memory, built up the success in this season with Celtic lifting a well deserved treble, with results often headlined with Jota’s contributions.

Depature (June 2023)

To everyone’s shock, soon after the end of the season he was linked to a raid by the then highly profligate & over-ambitious Saudi League who out of nowhere were on a mammoth spending spree which even spooked EPL teams. The figures reported for Jota’s expected salary (£10m tax free annually) were eye-watering as was the estimated transfer fee of €30m (~£25m) so it was inevitable the offer could not be refused by any of the stakeholders.

A cruel blow for Celtic having already lost popular manager Postecoglou only a few weeks back and now the most popular entertainer in the side too! It felt as if the league title winning side was fracturing.

Not all were impressed by his decision to move:

“Jota has thrown his career in the bin and the Celtic star will become a forgotten man!”
Ex-Celt Chris Sutton

Jota in his two seasons had made the fans smile with his gallas entertaining style, and his goals were replayed endlessly. There was a genuine rapport between the supporters and Jota, so to see this relationship end so suddenly was disappointing. Nevertheless, he would be very fondly recalled, and likely he would be forever in debt to Celtic for how they helped give his career & life the fillip it needed at a crucial time.

In a farewell video on social media, he posted an emotional & colourful goodbye to the support:

“No words will ever express how grateful I am for this ride. Let me tell you something, what a f**king ride.”

We wished him the very best.

Interim period between Celtic stints (June 2023- January 2025)

The transfer turned into one of the most bizarre squandering of money ever in sport (and that hasn’t exactly been a shortlist)! He was little played, with foreign player quota reasons referrred unconvincingly to explain this.

Once they backtracked on this, with rumours of wishing to tear up the contract, he finally won gametime and scored a handful of goals, but clearly the club was poorly managed. With the Saudis winding down their original plans which saw ludicrous amounts of money being spent on their professional football infrastructure, with cuts needed, Al Ittihad were ready to release Jota.

Supposedly not convincing their clearly incompetent management, there were reports that they wanted to give him away in order to allow Al Ittihad to bet on another European star August 2023! Mohammed Noor (rated one of Al Ittihad’s great players) claimed: “It has been clear through recent matches that Jota is not suitable to play for the club!” but in truth that club had way overspent on a number of big names, and a lack of proper oversight meant they needed to reassess their strategies.

This move had soured, out of no fault of that of Jota, and in any case there were similar cases of an unfulfilling time in the Saudi league by ex-pats who moved there ostensibly for the money. Really it was a league for the overly-expensive who were out of favour in Europe (e.g. Neymar, Benzema, Stevie Gerrard and even Moussa Dembele).

He escaped the Saudi League mess in a €8m transfer move to Ligue 1 Rennes in August 2024. As he was still young at this point, and only a year was lost, he could very much make up for the time wasted, but at least will have been financially well compensated for the drama. There were still many calls & hopes he would return to Celtic.

Then things quickly turned sour at Rennes when soon after a new manager was brought in and dropped Jota, stating unhelpfully:

“Why was Jota on the bench at the start of the match? For me he’s mainly a winger, not an interior player who can help balance the team.“

He was never forgotten at Celtic, and in a surprise trade, the older Kyogo was practically swapped for Jota in January 2025, bringing the younger Jota ‘home’ to Celtic Park. Admittedly, a bittersweet moment as Kyogo was also a much favoured player at Celtic, but Jota was younger and many felt it was a good trade at the outset.

Second Stint at Celtic

Season 2024/25 (January 2025 onward)

[….]

Quotes

“I am very happy to join such an historic and exciting team as Celtic. Having played in Portugal and Spain, everyone knows that Celtic is a huge name across Europe and a club with real heart and soul.
“It will be a pleasure and an honour to fight for this club and I can’t wait to feel the atmosphere from our supporters at Paradise. I know the Manager wants us to play fast, attacking football, the way it should be played and I can’t wait to play my part in this.
“I will work hard to do all I can to make the fans happy and enjoy some good times together.”
Jota (Aug 2021)

“I will try to be a dynamic player, try to score a lot of goals, assists, playmaking…”
Jota (Sep 2021)

“I would like for every football fan just to experience a game in Celtic Park. I’m telling this to my family and my friends because it is definitely something different. You feel things about football that you don’t feel in other places. The atmosphere against Ferencvaros speaks for itself. It’s an afternoon, most people have to work and the stadium is full. They have to come from their jobs or they are skipping, I don’t know! They make the effort to come to our games and enjoy them and we are grateful.”
Jota (Oct 2021)

“Been told by one source that there’s a lot of regret at Benfica for allowing an option-to-buy clause, for so cheap, on Jota’s loan last season. Another buying club would’ve had to pay a lot more this summer. That’s why they’ve got a 30% sell-on in the deal – they wanted more.”
Anthony Joseph (Sky sports journalist) July 2022

“I will try to be a dynamic player, try to score a lot of goals, assists, playmaking…”
Jota (Sep 2021)

“I would like for every football fan just to experience a game in Celtic Park,” Jota said. “I’m telling this to my family and my friends because it is definitely something different. You feel things about football that you don’t feel in other places. The atmosphere against Ferencvaros speaks for itself. It’s an afternoon, most people have to work and the stadium is full. They have to come from their jobs or they are skipping, I don’t know! They make the effort to come to our games and enjoy them and we are grateful.”
Jota (Oct 2021)

“This is too early. Last season people kept on saying they were in front of us, and the championship was done. Things don’t work like that. This is football. It is game after game. Until May, there is plenty of football to play. So just chill. We have plenty of stuff to do.”
Jota after 4-0 win v Sevco, with a scintillating goal by Jota (Sep 2022)

“They are just different aren’t they? Celtic fans are unbelievable, we are just grateful to have them.”
Jota

“We are probably one of the best clubs in the world in terms of passion, in terms of soul. Our fans speak for itself.”
Jota (2023)

“Jota has thrown his career in the bin and the Celtic star will become a forgotten man!”
Ex-Celt Chris Sutton on Jota’s move to Saudi Arabia (July 2023)

Former Celtic winger Jota ‘excluded’ from the Al-Ittihad squad after the Saudi Pro League side snapped up another European star. Italian international Luiz Felipe has joined from Real Betis – Rangers’ Europa League rivals – which spells bad news for the ex-Hoops hero, according to reports in Saudi Arabia. Saudi clubs can only include up to eight foreigners in their squad, with Felipe’s arrival set to render Jota surplus to requirements. l-Riyadh sports journalist Hattan Al-Najjar wrote: “Jota will be excluded from the list of [Al Ittihad] professionals in the league, according to the new system.” Al-Ittihad spent £25m signing Jota from Celtic this summer but reports claim that the Portuguese star could be shipped out on loan, most likely to another Saudi club.
(Sep 2023)

Playing Career

APPEARANCES (subs)	LEAGUE	SCOTTISH CUP	LEAGUE CUP	EUROPE	TOTAL
2021-22	29	3	2	6	40
Goals	10	0	1	2	13
2022-23	33	4	2	4	43
Goals	11	2	0	2	15
Total (1st stint)	62	7	4	10	83
Goals (1st stint)	21	2	1	2	28
2024-25
Goals
2025-26
Goals
2026-27
Goals
Total (2nd stint)
Goals (2nd stint)
Grand Total
Goals (Total)