CHRIS SUTTON is urging the Celtic board to ring fence the money needed to secure loan midfielder Jota after his recent run of good form.

The winger is on loan from Benfica and back home he’s making headlines for all the right reasons. Many Benfica fans have pointed to the player’s performances for Celtic as evidence Jota shouldn’t have been allowed to head out on loan in the summer.

Celtic have an option to buy the Portuguese midfielder, that much is certain. It gets sketchy around how much the first option is to land Jota permanently.

Chris Sutton believes if it is the top range price of £6.5m that has been bandied about in recent times, the club must find the cash and get the deal over the line.

“It also means getting ready to get the cheque book out next summer to secure Jota on a permanent deal.” Sutton wrote in his RecordSport column.

“I don’t know the ins and outs of his contract situation at Benfica but if it’s right about Celtic having first dibs on the winger for £6.5million, then they should be ring fencing the dosh right now.

Jota is only in the door five minutes but we’ve already seen enough to suggest he is more than decent and you suspect there is even more to come.

“Six and a half million is a lot of money to Celtic. It’s not a sum they’ve stumped up too often over the years.

“But I would spin it around – could they afford not to splash that kind of dosh on a player who will have had a season under his belt at Parkhead.”

Jota signed on deadline day back at the end of August and has been in the side ever since. The game time has allowed him to settle in and get to know his teammates. His assist and all round performance against Ferencvaros has made more people sit up and take notice.

He might have a dip in form at some point this season, but he would certainly be worth the cash for Celtic long term.

The two things that must come together is Jota’s willingness to sign a permanent Celtic deal and the board sanctioning a large transfer fee.

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