Tottenham rule out permanent bid for Postecoglou favourite but leave loan door open

If Tottenham Hotspur try to reunite Ange Postecoglou with his former Celtic winger Jota in January, it would only be via a loan deal, it has been revealed.

Jota left Celtic to join Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League over the summer. However, he has already been frozen out of Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans. Therefore, he might be available when the next transfer window opens.

As we recently revealed, Tottenham are at the front of the queue to offer Jota a route into the Premier League (despite competition from Brentford and Everton), since it would allow him to rekindle his connection with Postecoglou. TEAMtalk has also been told that a return to Celtic would not be impossible.

Now, an update from Football Insider has revealed that Tottenham are only interested in signing Jota on loan in January and not in a permanent deal.

Jota agreed to a huge salary when moving to Saudi Arabia, which Tottenham would not be willing to match. They have also acknowledged that his lack of gametime at Al-Ittihad would add to the risk of buying him.

However, there is space for Tottenham to add more to their wide options for Postecoglou to pick from after injuries to Manor Solomon and Ivan Perisic.

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Therefore, if Al-Ittihad make Jota available for loan – which certainly does not seem unrealistic – then Tottenham will be in the queue.

A deal would last until the end of the season, after which Jota’s future would have to be addressed again. The report does not mention whether or not Tottenham would be willing to negotiate an option to buy Jota after any temporary stay.

Postecoglou could repeat Jota loan trick

It was via a loan deal that Postecoglou initially secured the services of Jota for Celtic, before they bought him outright from Benfica after a productive debut season in which he scored 13 goals from 40 appearances.

In his sole season at Celtic after the move became permanent, Jota added another 15 goals from 43 games. Postecoglou’s side won the Scottish Premiership in both campaigns.

So far for Al-Ittihad, Jota has scored one goal from nine appearances, but for the reasons mentioned above, any progress he makes there will be severely stunted.

At the age of 24, the Portugal international will simply be keen to build up some momentum on the pitch again. Restrictions on overseas players in the Saudi Pro League have prevented him from playing domestically, although he is still eligible to feature in the AFC Champions League.

Ironically, the decision of a former Tottenham manager in the shape of Nuno to ostracise him from Al-Ittihad’s league squad could end up benefiting the current Spurs boss, Postecoglou.

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