Jota

2019–2020: Loan to Valladolid On 5 October 2020, Jota moved to La Liga side Real Valladolid on loan for the 2020–21 season. On his debut on 22 November he came on as a 77th-minute substitute for Óscar Plano and scored the final goal of a 3–1 win at Granada, but he added no more goals in 17 games for the rest of the season, which saw the team relegated.

Celtic

2021–22: Breakthrough On 1 September 2021, Jota joined Scottish Premiership club Celtic on loan for the 2021–22 season, with an option to buy for £6.5 million. Ten days later, he made his debut for Celtic in a 3–0 home win over Ross County, playing the entire game. Jota scored his first goal for the club in a victory against Raith Rovers in the quarter final of the Scottish League Cup on 23 September. He scored his first league goal on 3 October, a late winner in a 2–1 away win to Aberdeen. Having scored six goals in 15 appearances, including two in a 4–2 win at Dundee on 7 November and four assists, he was awarded the SPFL's Player of the Month for both October and November, prompting calls for Celtic to activate the option to buy in his loan contract. On 25 November, Jota scored in a 3–2 away defeat at Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Europa League.

A hamstring injury in early December forced him out of the club's League Cup victory against Hibernian. He made his return from injury on 17 January 2022, in a 2–0 home win over Hibernian. After several games without a goal or an assist, on 9 April he assisted Celtic's third goal in a 7–0 win over St Johnstone. In the next matches, Jota scored and assisted twice, earning him the SPFL Player of the Month award for April. On 1 May, he scored his first goal in the Old Firm derby, a 1–1 draw against Rangers at Celtic Park. He finished the season with 13 goals and 14 assists, as the club's top assist provider for the season; 10 of those assists were in the league, the second-highest total, helping Celtic win their 10th Scottish Premiership title in 11 years.

2022–23: Domestic treble and departure On 1 July 2022, Celtic triggered Jota's buyout clause of £6.5 million, signing him on a permanent five-year deal, with Benfica also receiving 30% of a future transfer. Jota started the 2022–23 season by closing Celtic's 2–0 home win against Aberdeen. On 6 August, he provided a hat-trick of assists for the first time in his career as Celtic beat Ross County 3–1 away from home. On 3 September, he scored a goal with a chip against arch rivals Rangers in a 4–0 win at Parkhead. On 14 September, Jota was named player of the match in Celtic's 1–1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League. He scored his first UEFA Champions League goal on 5 October in a 3–1 group stage loss to RB Leipzig.

Al-Ittihad On 3 July 2023, Al-Ittihad confirmed the signing of Jota for £25 million, a club record fee paid for a player. He joined the likes of Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté at Al-Ittihad as part of the massive investment into Saudi Pro League football by the PIF. He scored his first goal for the club on 28 August 2023 in a 3–0 win against Al-Wehda after coming on as a substitute for Benzema, but was later left out of the club's domestic squad by manager Nuno Espírito Santo, with only eight foreign players being allowed as per Saudi league rules.

Rennes On 30 August 2024, Jota signed for Ligue 1 club Rennes on a three-year contract, with the transfer fee reported as €10 million. He later told French media that his former teammate N'Golo Kanté had recommended the move to Brittany.

After less than five months in France, and being frozen out of the first team, he made a return to Celtic.

Return to Celtic Jota's return to Celtic for a £8.4 million fee was announced on 27 January 2025. He took the number 7 shirt—previously worn by club legends Jimmy Johnstone and Henrik Larsson—after Luis Palma went on loan to Olympiacos. He made his official re-debut with Celtic on 2 February 2025, scoring in the 94th minute against Motherwell at Fir Park, in a 3–1 Celtic victory. On 26 April 2025, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in a 5–0 win away to Dundee United, with the initial injury report being that he would be out of action for a nine month spell. In January 2026, Celtic manager Martin O'Neill provided an update on Jota's injury, stating that he had suffered a setback in his recovery that would require keyhole surgery, meaning he would miss the entire of the 2025–26 season.

International career Jota earned 73 caps and scored 26 goals for Portugal across all youth levels, starting with a 2–1 win for the under-15 team against Switzerland in Campo Maior on 10 June 2014. He went with the under-17 team to the 2016 UEFA European Championship in Azerbaijan, scoring in the penalty shootout win over neighbours Spain in the final.

At the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Georgia, Jota was part of the Portugal team that finished runners-up to England. In the final group game, he scored a late penalty as they came back to draw 2–2 with Sweden. He was in the squad for the 2018 tournament, beating Italy 4–3 in the final after extra time. He also finished joint top scorer in the tournament with five goals, and was named in the Team of the Tournament.

In March 2021, Jota took part in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Hungary and Slovenia. He scored in extra time as the team beat Italy 5–3 in the quarter-finals at the Stožice Stadium. Portugal finished as runners-up, after losing in the final 1–0 to Germany.

In October 2022, he was included in a provisional squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but did not make the final cut.

Career statistics

Club

Honours Benfica Primeira Liga (1): 2018–19 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (1): 2019 2022–23, 2024–25 Scottish Cup (1): 2022–23 Scottish League Cup (2): 2021–22, 2022–23

Portugal U17 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (1): 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship Top goalscorer: 2018 (5 goals) UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2018 LigaPro's Best Young Player of the Year: 2018–19 SPFL Player of the Month: October 2021, November 2021, April 2022