Celtic can finally replace Jota with swoop for “flamboyant” £6m “dribbler”

Celtic still have plenty of time left to dip into the market to improve their squad for the 2024/26 campaign before the summer transfer window closes at the start of next month.

Brendan Rodgers has made no secret of his desire to add more quality to his options across the park in the coming weeks, particularly in the attacking areas of the pitch.

Speaking earlier this month, the Northern Irish head coach said: “The squad will hopefully look again different come the end of the window.

“I think it’s very clear. We need to improve in the front end of the pitch. The attacking department has always, and always will be, the strengths of my teams. We’ve lost important players in that area, and we need to replace players in that area.”

As you can see in the post above, Rodgers confirmed back in May that Portuguese winger Jota is set to be out of action for up to nine months with a knee injury.

This means that Celtic supporters may not see the former Benfica starlet out on the pitch in green and white again until January or February of next year.

Why Celtic need to replace Jota

The Scottish Premiership champions need to sign another left-sided attacker before the window slams shut to ‘replace’ Jota, because he could be out for more than half of the season.

Celtic’s rather drab 1-0 win over St Mirren, decided by a deflected strike from Luke McCowan, highlighted the need for attacking reinforcements to come through the door in the weeks to come.

Rodgers would surely have loved to have had Jota available to bring off the bench, or start, to add some attacking quality in the final third, after the winger delivered four goals and two assists in seven league starts in the second half of last season.

As you can see in the table above, Jota hit the ground running in the Premiership after his return to Glasgow from Rennes in January, ranking highly among his positional peers as both a scorer and a creator of goals from the left flank.

The Portuguese star is a winger who has the ability to make a big impact at the top end of the pitch on a regular basis, which is why his injury came as such a big blow for the Hoops and Rodgers, and why he has to be replaced.

Daizen Maeda is currently the only fit and available senior left winger in the first-team squad, and James Forrest, 34, was the only winger of any description on the bench at all against St Mirren.

This is why the Hoops must dip into the market to sign a player who can fill the gap left by Jota’s injury, to ensure that Rodgers is not left without adequate resources out wide until next year.

TEAMtalk recently reported that Brondby winger Clement Bischoff has emerged as a key target for Celtic, as they plan to bring in two more wingers before the end of the window.

The outlet claimed that the Danish youngster is available for a fee of around £6.3m, but that they could also face competition from Sunderland and Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Why Celtic should sign Clement Bischoff

Celtic should push to win the race for the 19-year-old talent’s signature this summer because they could finally replace the injured Jota by bringing him to Parkhead.

Bischoff could be the perfect signing to fill the specific need of this signing. He is a young player who may not expect to start every single game straight away, at the age of 19, which means that Jota’s return from injury may not cause problems in the squad.

Whereas, having Jota, Maeda, and another senior left-sided attacker who wants to start every week could cause problems and leave Rodgers in a difficult situation.

This means that Bischoff could fit the bill perfectly by coming in to play important minutes in the first half of the season, before moving to more of a back-up role when the Portuguese forward is back, learning from him to aid his own development.

The teenage whiz, who was described as a “flamboyant” and “technical dribbler” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has also shown enough quality in his time with Brondby to suggest that he can provide quality to Celtic straight away.

Extraordinarily, Bischoff has already created 24 chances and five ‘big chances’ in six games in all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign for the Danish side, playing on the left of a front three.

As you can see in the table above, the teenager only managed two goals and three assists at league level for Brondby last season, but all of his starts came as a left wing-back.

The Danish side have utilised him as a winger, instead of as a wing-back, at the start of this season and he has already produced one goal and one assist in three Superliga games.

This shows that he can provide more quality offensively when used on the wing, but it also shows that he is a versatile player who could be used in other positions down the left by Rodgers when needed.

Therefore, Bischoff could be a brilliant addition to the Celtic squad as a quality and versatile young player who could make an instant impact, whilst also having the potential to complement Jota when he is back fit and available.