- Jota is looking to leave Al Ittihad, despite joining only in July from Celtic
- Tottenham and Newcastle are interested in him as they search for new wings
- Ange Postecoglou, Spurs’ boss Ange was a former employee of the 24-year-old in Scotland
Sources confirmed to 90min that Tottenham Hotspur, and Newcastle United are interested in Al Ittihad’s winger Jota ahead of January’s transfer window.
Jota signed for the Saudi Arabian champions in July, paying a fee of PS25m. However, his domestic appearances were limited as he was not registered. He played his last Saudi Pro League game on 1 September, before the squads for 2023/24 were decided. Since then he’s also appeared in two AFC Champions League matches.
90min stated at the beginning of October that Jota hoped to be released by his Al Ittihad agreement in order to move immediately back to Europe. Though it’s unlikely to happen at this point, there will still be suitors heading towards the winter window.
According to 90min, Tottenham is considering signing Jota. They also plan on bringing another defender into the club – Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly , who remains a priority, and Everton defender Ben Godfrey , who has emerged as an target .
Spurs would be interested in signing Jota for free if his contract were terminated. They’d still look at a deal as long as Al Ittihad’s cost isn’t prohibitive.
According to 90min, Newcastle is also on the lookout for a new left winger. A deal between them and Al Ittihad would be theoretically easy, as both are owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. However, the Premier League is expecting to pass a resolution this week that will prevent clubs from signing loan players from affiliated teams.
Newcastle is looking for a wide forward after long-term injuries suffered by Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes and Miguel Almiron.
Sources have said that Newcastle may recall Feyenoord’s 19-year old Yankuba Minteh after his impressive start to the new season. They are very careful not to hinder his development and would rather he stay with De Kuip for the rest of the season.
Eddie Howe, Newcastle’s manager, said earlier in the month that he would consider bringing Minteh back. “We will look at all of our out-on-loan players to see if they can potentially help us.” We’ll look into it if we think that it will be good for the player’s career.
He [Minteh] is injured, but he has performed very well. We need to assess his [hamstring] injuries.
We need to determine the severity of his injury and when he will be returning before we make any decisions about him.
Jota is currently open to any options, but would like to work with Ange postecoglou again after working with him at Celtic for the past two years. Celtic are in the race to sign the winger.
