Celtic have reportedly informed Benfica of their intentions to sign Portuguese winger Jota on a permanent deal.

Jota is on loan from Benfica and has long been linked with a switch to Glasgow in a £6.5million deal.

The 23-year-old is a huge fan favourite and Portuguese outlet Jornal Noticias believes Celtic will now exercise the buy option in Jota's deal to bring him to Scotland.

Jota may be tempted by the fact that the Scottish Premiership title winners will now gain automatic entry into the Champions League group stages as UEFA confirmed Russian clubs won't feature in next season's European competitions.

The governing body announced that Russian club sides will not be taking part in the Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference League next term.

It handed a huge boost to Ange Postcoglou's Celtic as they remain in pole position to win the race for the league flag as well as the £40 million riches on offer in the process.

The Aussie will also know that guaranteed Champions League group stage football will also help him in his quest to secure Jota and USA international defender Cameron Carter-Vickers on long term contracts.

Elsewhere Celtic have announced that Mark Lawwell will reunite with Postecoglou in the summer as head of first-team scouting and recruitment at Celtic.

The son of former Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell is currently operating at City Football Group’s head of scouting, which previously saw him work with Postegcoglou at Yokahama F. Marinos.

Lawwell will assume his role at Celtic at the end of the season with Postecoglou stating that he was delighted to have him on board.

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