Jota (Spanish footballer)

Jota finished his development with Galician club Celta de Vigo, after joining the club's youth system at the age of 13.[2] He made his first-team debut on 29 January 2011, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Enrique de Lucas in a 1–1 draw with Barcelona B in the Segunda División.[3][4] Jota played twice in April 2011, making his first start in a 1–0 win away to Albacete on 17 April – he lasted 73 minutes before being replaced by Mateo – and finished the 2010–11 season with four appearances.[3][4] His only first-team appearance of the 2011–12 season came as a 73rd-minute substitute for Joan Tomàs in a 3–1 Copa del Rey third round win over Real Valladolid on 12 October 2011.[4] He did however captain and top-score for Celta's B-team as they finished bottom of the 2011–12 Segunda División B.[5][6] With Celta's first team back in La Liga for the 2012–13 season, Jota was not in the manager's plans,[5] and he spent the next season out on loan.

Although he said he only wanted to leave on a permanent transfer, Jota was loaned to Real Madrid Castilla, newly promoted to the Segunda División for the 2012–13 season. The deal included an option to purchase for a fee of around €1 million.[5] Mostly confined to the bench, he made just three appearances.[4]

On Jota's return to Celta, he found new manager Luis Enrique equally willing to dispense with his services,[7] so he again went out on loan, joining Eibar for the 2013–14 Segunda División season.[8] He instantly broke into the team and made 37 appearances during the season.[4] On 25 May 2014, Jota scored the only goal of the game at home to Deportivo Alavés that confirmed Eibar's promotion to La Liga for the first time in the club's history.[9] Jota finished the season with 11 goals and collected a Segunda División winners' medal after Eibar were promoted as champions.[4] In recognition of his performances, Jota was one of three nominees for the Best Attacking Midfielder award at the 2014 LFP Awards – he lost out to Ayoze Pérez[10] – and was named in the division's Team of the Year.[11]

Eduardo Berizzo – Luis Enrique's successor – saw Jota as part of his vision for Celta. The club opened talks with Jota's father, who acted as his representative, over a contract extension, but no agreement could be reached. Injury kept the player out of pre-season, and his omission from the team at the beginning of the season was attributed to concerns he might suffer a relapse, and had no connection to his contractual situation.[12] Jota left Celta in August 2014, having made just five senior appearances.[4]

On 15 August 2014, Jota signed a three-year deal with English club Brentford, newly promoted to the Championship, for an undisclosed fee,[13] reported in Spain as €1.5 million.[12] He made his debut as a 64th-minute substitute for Moses Odubajo in a 2–1 victory over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road four days later.[14] He made his first start for the Bees in the following game, against Birmingham City, but lasted only 17 minutes before being sacrificed for Harlee Dean after Tony Craig received a straight red card.[15] On his seventh appearance, Jota scored his first goal for the club – firing the ball into the top corner during first-half stoppage-time – in a 2–0 win over Leeds United at Griffin Park on 27 September.[16] He scored again the following Saturday, converting Alan McCormack's cross for the opening goal in a 3–1 victory over Reading.[17]

In mid-November and after two goals in 15 games, Jota revealed that the intensity of the English game meant that he was playing at only 60–70% of his capabilities.[18] He rediscovered his form in late November, scoring four goals in his next four matches[19] – one of which, the very late (91st minute) winner against West London rivals Fulham, was chosen as the Bees Player Outstanding Moment of the Season[20] – and earning a place in the Football League Team of the Week for his performance and goal in a 3–2 victory over Cardiff City on 20 December.[21] His Cardiff strike, in which he "curled a stunning shot into the top corner from outside the corner of the penalty area",[22] was nominated as Brentford's entry for the 2014 Mitre Goal of the Year award.[23]

In late March and early April 2015, Jota scored three goals in four matches to help maintain the Bees' playoff push.[19] He was named as one of FourFourTwo magazine's top 40 Football League players of the season.[24] In the final game of the season on 2 May, Jota scored and assisted Andre Gray in a 3–0 home win over Wigan Athletic, winning a place in the Football League Team of the Week.[25] The win confirmed Brentford in a fifth-place finish, which meant they would face Middlesbrough in the playoff semi-finals,[26] but Jota's first season in English football ended in a 5–1 aggregate defeat.[27] He made 46 appearances and scored 11 goals.[19]

Jota's 2015–16 season was halted on the opening day versus Ipswich Town when he damaged ankle ligaments in a tackle by former Brentford teammate Jonathan Douglas. He underwent surgery ten days later,[28] and returned to action on 5 December, as a late substitute for Ryan Woods in a 2–0 victory over Milton Keynes Dons.[29] After three further substitute appearances,[29] Jota agreed to Brentford including an option to extend his contract to June 2018, as a precursor to his leaving the club on loan for personal reasons.[30][31]

On 16 January 2016, Jota returned to Eibar, now playing in La Liga, on an 18-month loan.[30] Eight days later, he made his first appearance in Spain's top division, replacing Saúl Berjón after 57 minutes of a 5–2 loss at Athletic Bilbao.[4] He made 20 appearances without scoring over the second half of the 2015–16 season and the first half of 2016–17 before being recalled by Brentford.[32][4]

Jota was recalled from loan by Brentford during the January 2017 transfer window,[32] and made his first appearance on 7 January 2017 as a 61st-minute substitute for Nico Yennaris during a 5–1 FA Cup third round victory over Eastleigh.[33] He scored the first goal since his return with a late consolation in a 2–1 defeat by Wigan Athletic two weeks later.[33] A run of five goals in five games in February, which included his first hat-trick for the club, won Jota a nomination for the Championship Player of the Month award.[34] He finished the season as Brentford's third-leading scorer behind Lasse Vibe and the departed Scott Hogan,[35] with 12 goals from 23 appearances, and the club triggered the one-year option on his contract.[36]

Jota joined Championship club Birmingham City on 31 August 2017 on a four-year contract. The fee was undisclosed, but was confirmed by the club to be a new record, in excess of the £6 million they paid for Nikola Žigić in 2010.[37] He was one of six debutants in the starting eleven for Birmingham's next fixture, away to Norwich City; he played the whole match as his team lost 1–0.[38][39] Jota was substituted after 79 minutes of his second appearance with what appeared to be a hamstring strain.[40] He returned to the starting eleven, but gradually lost the confidence of manager Steve Cotterill and played little after December. When Garry Monk took over as manager in March 2018, Jota returned to the team and started all the remaining matches as Birmingham avoided relegation.[41] At the end of March, BBC Sport's reporter noted that "The most noticeable difference since Monk's appointment has been the greater influence of Spanish forward Jota, who struggled for goals following his club-record move from Brentford in August, but has been pivotal in Blues' successive wins either side of the international break."[42]

He was a regular in the side throughout 2018–19, apart from time lost to a groin injury in mid-season,[43] but his performances were inconsistent. He scored only three goals over the season,[44][45] but provided eleven assists,[46] and in October, created 19 chances for team-mates, four of which led to goals, and contributed to Lukas Jutkiewicz being named Championship Player of the Month.[47]

Jota signed for Birmingham's local rivals Aston Villa on 5 June 2019. He agreed a two-year contract with the newly promoted Premier League club, and was reunited with manager Dean Smith with whom he had worked at Brentford. On the same day, Gary Gardner moved in the opposite direction; the fees were undisclosed.[48] He made his debut in Villa's opening fixture after an hour of a 3–1 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur, and scored his first Aston Villa goal on 25 September in a 3–1 away victory against Brighton & Hove Albion in the EFL Cup.[49][50]

On 3 October 2020, Jota left Villa after reaching an agreement for the termination of his contract.[51]

On 4 October 2020, the day after his Aston Villa exit, Jota signed for La Liga club Deportivo Alavés on a one-year contract.[52] He made his Alavés debut on 18 October, in a 2–0 home league defeat to Elche.[53] He made 23 league appearances without scoring,[4] and confirmed that he would leave the club when his contract expired at the end of the season.[54]

After leaving Alavés, he was close to joining a side in Saudi Arabia on a multi-year deal, but ultimately announced his retirement in October 2022, saying "in 2021, I lost the ambition I had in previous years and I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to keep in my memory how happy I have been for so many years."[55]