The void that Jota left when he made his £25m move from Celtic to Al-Ittihad was massive. And you could forgive the Celtic fans for thinking that he was irreplaceable.
But it does seem now that Brendan Rodgers may have done just that with the £3.5m signing of Honduran international, Luis Palma.
The 23-year-old forward who was recommended to Celtic by Emilio Izaguirre has been in red-hot form for the Hoops this season.
Four goals and two assists in ten appearances [Transfermarkt] have put Palma firmly in the mix to start against Atletico Madrid tomorrow night and Peter Grant seems to think that he could be the man to fill the Portuguese winger’s boots this season.
Grant said [BBC Sportscene], “I think he does similar things to Jota, I must admit. I think he creates chances and what I like about him is when he comes inside he doesn’t pass it back in the midfield.
“He’ll deliver balls in the box and it causes havoc. He likes shots at goal and he always puts it into an area, you know one of those ones that you fizz in and if everyone misses it, it goes into the back of the net, all these things.
“He’s got all these things up his sleeve. He’s got that quality, he’s got that magic about him and his goal was fantastic.”
He’s no Jota, but Luis Palma has been excellent for Celtic
Look, I get it. Jota was a one-in-a-million type of player that only comes along every so often. A kind of Lubo Moravcik type.
Brilliant with both feet and can beat any defender on his day. Whilst Palma has yet to show those kinds of qualities, the Honduran certainly knows how to strike a ball.
His passing is incredible. He has a wand of a right boot and the Celtic support has seen both domestically and in Europe that he can produce the goods in terms of goals and assists.
And whilst it seems no player can ever take the place of Jota, Palma is certainly showing exactly what he is worth to Celtic as the season progresses.
In other news, ‘I told him’: Emilio Izaguirre said he’s met Michael Nicholson and ‘recommended’ two players Celtic should sign