Celtic winger Jota says his 18-month absence from football has left him more grateful for the game and mentally stronger after he “met some demons” during his recovery.
The 27-year-old took another significant step in his comeback on Sunday, coming on at half-time at Celtic Park as Brendan Rodgers’ side beat Hearts 7-1.
Jota suffered a serious knee injury as Celtic secured the title at Tannadice in April 2025. The setback came just as the Portugal international was beginning to rediscover his form after a difficult period between spells at Parkhead.
His time away from Celtic had included an unsuccessful move to Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad, where he was unable to play after the club exceeded their quota for foreign players. He then endured a frustrating spell at Rennes before sustaining the knee injury.
Although his rehabilitation has not been straightforward, Jota is determined to make the most of being fit again.
“In the end, it’s part of everyone’s life,” he said. “Everyone struggles, but certainly other people have worse problems.
“So I’m just grateful and privileged to be in such a wonderful sport and to have all of these experiences.
“I’ve met some demons and I’ve had some good talks with them. I think we developed a good relationship and we are all on the same table nowadays and we can laugh about everything that happened.”
Jota, who is not included in Celtic’s Europa League squad, said the experience had given him a clearer understanding of himself and what he wanted.
“If you don’t grow from a situation like this, it’s because you didn’t learn anything,” he added.
“I could step away, see different things from other perspectives and value some stuff that maybe I wasn’t valuing before.
“And now it’s good because I have a clear idea of what I want, what I am. I might have it before as well, but now it’s a bit clearer.”
The former Benfica player said simply being able to play again had been the biggest source of happiness in his life.
“The happiest thing in life for me is to play football,” he said. “I couldn’t in the last year or so. So right now, every time I step on a training pitch or a football pitch, for me it’s everything. That’s why I’m enjoying so much and valuing this so much.”
Jota admitted there had been difficult periods during his recovery, but said his passion for football kept him working towards a return.
“My love for football is immense,” he said. “Maybe someone else wouldn’t want to come back because of the struggle or some guys just don’t have that in themselves.
“That was my fuel to keep on working every day, to be healthy and fit, even if things weren’t going that way.”
He added: “My aim was always to come back fit, whatever time I need to take, because I still have a long career in front of me and I’m still young.
“So there’s no rush, let’s do everything correctly and just trust the process.”
Asked whether he was making up for lost time, Jota replied: “There’s no lost time because I grew a lot. It had to be what it had to be and I didn’t lose. I actually gained because I’m way stronger nowadays.”
