Former Celtic winger Jota is reportedly set to finalise a return to Europe today after a difficult spell in Saudi Arabia.

The 25-year-old is expected to join Ligue 1 side Rennes with the deal to be rubber-stamped after his arrival in France.

Jota had struggled for minutes in the Middle East as he was dropped out of the Al-Ittihad squad due to registration rules.

The Portuguese player was severely limited by the decision just weeks after he joined the club from Celtic for a bumper £25m transfer fee.

Jota has continually been linked with a transfer back to Europe from Saudi Arabia after his lack of match action and is now expected to complete a move.

Al-Ittihad were willing to allow Jota to move on to another Saudi Pro League side on loan but the player was not interested.

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Now, transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has stated Jota will join Rennes on Thursday. 

On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: "Jota will be in France today to complete his move to Rennes, wanted by director Massara.

"Fee will be around €8m for Al Ittihad player."

Should the fee of €8m (£6.75m) be correct, then it would mean Al-Ittihad would take around an £18m loss on Jota just one year after signing him for £25m.