Al-Ittihad announce £25m transfer of Celtic ace Jota in ‘most disturbing video ever seen’ as fans say ‘football is dead’
SAUDI ARABIAN club Al-Ittihad confirmed Jota as their latest big-money signing from Celtic in truly bizarre fashion.
The star was unveiled after completing his record-equalling £25million move.
Jota, 24, passed a Dubai medical before penning a three-year £200,000-a-week deal - which will net him a life-changing £30m in wages.
The transfer fee equals Celtic's Scottish record sale of Kieran Tierney to Arsenal in 2019.
He will join French stars Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante in former Wolves and Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s Al-Ittihad squad.
Brendan Rodgers wanted to keep the Portuguese star but Celtic couldn’t stand in his way after Al-Ittihad made their move.
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
Celtic confirmed Jota's departure with a short statement and video on the club website shortly before 10pm.
Then the Saudis released their own strange video to announce the signing - with an animated Nuno claiming Jota would help them “rule the world”.
And it left some football fans claiming that “football is dead” while others simply described it as “disturbing”.
Al-Ittihad unveiled the winger with a rather bizarre video before posting graphics showing Jota in a yellow and black Spiderman costume with the caption: “Superhero.”
Most read in Football
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS - BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
But it was the announcement video itself that left fans stunned.
The two-minute animated clip begins with Nuno admiring a clip of the forward scoring against Rangers before bizarrely getting in his car and driving to a shop.
As 11pm approaches on his phone - when the announcement was made in Saudi Arabia - he is offered the chance to pick between a pack of cards.
And for some reason each card represents a Celtic player from past and present including Giorgos Giakoumakis, Odsonne Edouard, Anthony Ralston and even Albian Ajeti.
Nuno of course chooses the Jota card in the end, before saying: “We want to rule the world.”
And after watching the clip in full, the baffling video had supporters quickly taking to Twitter to voice their displeasure.
One fan claimed that “football is dead” while another described it as the “most bizarre signing video I’ve ever seen.”
“The most unsettling transfer announcement video,” declared another.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
A fellow fan labelled it as “disturbing” as another tweeted: “Saudi football league thing somehow got more weird.”
While another simply added: “Words can’t describe this video.”
TRANSFER NEWS LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and confirmed switches from the world of football