After another setback in Jota’s Celtic recovery, a sports therapy expert explains to Josh McCafferty what his latest treatment means, and why the real question may be what level he can return to.
When Jota returned to Celtic 486 days ago, it was hoped he would inject discernible flamboyance to a frontline already comprising the likes of Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn, and Adam Idah.
Initially, it was like he had never been away. Jota scored on his second Celtic debut against Motherwell at Fir Park and, after raising his fist to the heavens in celebration, he broke down in tears, visibly overcome with emotion at being back where he belonged after almost two years of strife in Saudi Arabia and France.
But to declare Jota's return as a success would be like saying Celtic's 2025/26 season went smoothly. Instead, his second Parkhead spell has been laden with setback after setback.
Jota suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in April last year against Dundee United. He has yet to return.
A chunk of 64 matches have come and gone since Jota was last available for selection.
When he initially encountered his ACL problem, Jota was expected to return at the beginning of this calendar year.
However, speaking in January, interim Celtic manager Martin O'Neill explained that the 27-year-old had encountered an unexpected obstacle and would not be seen for the remainder of the 2025/26 campaign.
"Brendan [Rodgers, O'Neill's predecessor] thought it was going to be January, February. That could have been at the time. That could have been the prognosis," O'Neill said.
"But the little setback that he's had is not preventing extra things. It's just something that you can clear up with one of those keyhole surgery things. It's a tidy-up. It's not major."
Three months have since passed, and after Celtic won the Scottish Cup on Saturday with a dominant 3-1 victory over Neil Lennon's Dunfermline Athletic, O'Neill was pressed further on the situation.
Jota was conspicuous by his absence in Celtic's William Hill Premiership title celebrations the week prior, but, after suffering yet another setback, he has been spending time in Portugal for more rehab.
O'Neill issued a new recovery timeline, with Jota not expected to return until at least Halloween – nine months later than initially thought.
"He's had one of those little blood injections to try and get the thing up and running," the Northern Irishman said.
"With the best will in the world, I wouldn't see him starting. I'd be hoping that maybe by Halloween, maybe earlier, he would. But I wouldn't be thinking about him for the start of next season.
"That's a tough one for him, a real tough one. He's been out for nearly 14 months."
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The blood injection O'Neill referred to is called platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, as Daniel Biggs, a lecturer in sports therapy at UHI Perth and first-team physiotherapist for SPFL League Two side Kelty Hearts, explains.
"It's widely used, and it's a good treatment," Biggs tells The Celtic Way. "What happens is the platelets (tiny cell fragments in your blood that prevent bleeding) are collected as part of the blood and then separated out and then injected back into the injured area.
"It assists with healing at a better rate than not having it. It's a clever treatment, particularly if Jota is out for longer than what we initially thought."
If Jota returns in line with O'Neill's latest prognosis, he will have been out for over 18 months.
"Typically, it's nine to 11 months – that's the average time for an ACL grade three full rupture," Biggs adds. "So if it's 18 months, then it's suggesting that the rehab hasn't gone as smoothly as what was initially hoped.
"Possible reasons for this could include skin graft taking a little bit longer to heal properly, there might be some infections, some inflammation issues in there, and there could be some setbacks within the rehab programme itself as well."
Naturally, given the extensive time Jota has spent watching Celtic instead of playing for them, fears have arisen that his career could end prematurely.
"I don't see this as being a career-threatening injury," O'Neill said in April, albeit before Jota's latest setback.
"If Celtic fans are worried because of the length of time he's taken, I'd try to assure them that he will recover from this."
Biggs echoes that sentiment, but warns supporters that a fully recovered Jota might not be the same player that fell to the Tannadice turf over a year ago.
"I think most of the time, if it's an ACL injury, a lot of players do come back," Biggs said.
"What we have found out in research is that there's a decent percentage, around 66 per cent of players with an ACL injury, do drop down the leagues within three years.
"So, whether they return – maybe – but we do know that in the long term, they probably won't reach the ability that they were before the ACL injury."
The Parkhead faithful have seen first-hand this season the toll an injury can take on a player's performance.
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel's final few appearances in green and white were permeated with costly mistakes against Kilmarnock, Hibernian, and Stuttgart.
A shoulder problem plagued the Dane for over a year before he was ultimately forced to retire against his own will.
"I've been told by my doctors that the chances of me ever playing football again at the highest level are now extremely small," Schmeichel said in a statement after hanging up his gloves for good yesterday.
"Accepting that my body may no longer allow me to do the thing I have loved more than anything is one of the hardest moments of my life.
"Ever since this injury happened, I believed that if there was even the smallest chance I could keep going, then I had to try. Now I have tried everything.
"I never wanted my career to end because I couldn't fight anymore. Unfortunately, the injury has made that decision for me."
The days a footballer spends on the sidelines with injury are fraught with equal levels of physical and mental torment.
"There must be a lot of frustration on Jota's part, I can imagine," Biggs adds.
"The loss of confidence, and you know what, I think there will be some doubt in there as well. Particularly if there are setbacks within the rehab, then there might be doubt coming through.
"Doubt develops, and not just when a return will happen, but whether the player will ever get back to the previous level."
Jota played the greatest football of his career at Celtic between 2021 and 2023, before sealing a multi-million-pound move to the Middle East.
In the three years since his initial exit, he has only managed to play 51 competitive matches.
While there's justifiable concern he may never return to the impressive levels of performance that earned him that Saudi switch, Jota will hope to avoid Schmeichel's fate and once more feel the adoration of the Celtic support. Nobody wants to see him back more than them.
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