Celtic's Jota ruled out for up to nine months

Jota left Tannadice on crutches last Saturday

Celtic winger Jota will be sidelined for between six to nine months with a cruciate ligament injury, with manager Brendan Rodgers saying it "shone a light" on his club's need to strengthen their forward line in the summer transfer market.

The 26-year-old, who returned to the Scottish champions from Rennes in January, picked up a knee injury during Saturday's 5-0 win over Dundee United.

Jota was taken off in the first-half at Tannadice as Celtic sealed a fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership title, the Portuguese wide man leaving the stadium on crutches.

"Sadly, it's not good news for him or for us really," Rodgers told Sky Sports. "It didn't look as bad, but when he had the scan, it looks like he'll probably be out for six to nine months.

"So he's done his cruciate and a little bit of other damage in there. He's quite upbeat and philosophical about it."

Jota impressed in his first spell with Celtic, initially on loan from Benfica, but after being sold to Al-Ittihad in 2023, he fell out of favour with the Saudi side and at Rennes.

He has made 16 appearances, nine of them starts, after returning to Glasgow, scoring five goals, but Rodgers revealed that they had expected him to kick on after having "a really strong pre-season" to improve his level of fitness.

"Sadly, that has interrupted that side of it," he said. "He's had a challenging couple of years really after his move away from here to Saudi, but I have to say, he is a very positive young guy and I'm pretty sure he'll come back from this a stronger person and player."

Celtic sold then top scorer Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes as Jota made his move in the opposite direction in January and the latter's injury makes it even more crucial to add to his forward line.

"We will definitely have to into the market, of that there is no doubt, but that was always going to be the case anyway," Rodgers added. "You are always looking to improve your front line, but there is no doubt that this news really shines a light on to that area of the field for us."

Celtic visit city rivals Rangers on Sunday as they look to avoid losing a third consecutive Old Firm league meeting and will also be without right-back Alastair Johnston through injury.