Jota might sidestep questions about his future the same way he skips past defenders but the Celtic attacker can’t be accused of slinking away from the demands of playing at Parkhead.
The Portuguese ace has thrown himself in to life with the Hoops and it’s already clear he knows what’s required.
Jota even scoffed at the notion Celts are somehow back in business after reaching the Premier Sports Cup Final at the weekend.
As far as he is concerned it’s business as usual.
Ange Postecoglou’s men will take on Hibs for the season’s first piece of silverware on December 19 and it’s a chance for the club to get back to sticking trophies in the cabinet after ending up empty handed last term for the first time in more than a decade.
But Jota reckons Postecoglou and his side are simply meeting their commitments.
When asked if Celts were finally on the way back, quick as a flash, he shot back and said: “Celtic never left, my friend.
“We are always here. Of course sometimes there are more difficult periods and teams go through some changes but our team is solid and we are doing good things.
“We believe in us, which is the most important thing, and I know many people are starting to believe in us as well.
“So just let us do our thing and we will see.”
Jota was doing his thing at Hampden on Saturday evening as he put on a show in the semi-final.
The 22-year-old lapped up the big occasion and relished the celebrations at the end.
He also new how important it was to the Celtic support to get through the tie in a week when they’d bid farewell to one of their favourite sons.
Bertie Auld’s passing was marked in the stands with a couple of stunning displays.
Jota was just happy the players were able to pay their own tribute on the pitch.
He said: “It was good that we won the game because we knew it was a huge loss for Celtic and we wanted to give a last dance for Bertie Auld. I think we did him proud.
“Now we just have to keep going.”
Jota is eying up a winner’s medal at Celtic but he’s not a man to stare too far in to the future, whether it’s his own or the club’s.
The Cup Final can wait.
The borrowed Benfica star is not looking beyond Bayer Leverkusen this week as the Hoops look to hang on to their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Jota said: “Yes we have the final to look forward to, but first we have some more important games because the next game is always the most important one.
“We are going to think about those first and then when it comes the time we will think about the final.
“Of course I would love to win everything. But it’s too soon to think about it. We don’t have a final in our next game.
“We have a Europa League game. We will focus on that.”
The same goes for his own destiny. Celtic fans are fevered about the possibility of landing the attacker on a permanent deal before any other sides across the continent get any big ideas.
Former Celt John Hartson reckons the likes of Bayern Munich and PSG might come sniffing around if he keeps up the kind of form that’s won him the player of the month award for October and put him in a fair shout of doing so again for November.
But Jota shrugs off the speculation. He’s had a rough few years and he’d prefer just to enjoy the right now rather than worrying about the right next move.
He said: “A lot of people ask that but my focus is not on that right now. My focus is on the team, on our games, on our victories, on the process.
“I just want to stick with it and be a better person and player every day. That is my aim.
“I never think in the future, I think in the present. I am a present person. That is what I am thinking.
“I wake up every day thinking today I am going to do this, this and this. I want to be better at this, this and this. What can I do?
“That is what I am looking for. I am not thinking about what is going to happen next week or next month or next year.
“Just let me enjoy football and be happy.”
He’ll be delighted if Celts can return from Germany with some points in their pocket.
Leverkusen were lethal in Glasgow, punishing any hint of weakness in the Hoops rearguard a ruthless 4-0 win.
But there were moments when Celtic got under their skin and Jota reckons there’s no need to abandon their attacking instincts on the eastern banks of the Rhine.
He said: “We are going to approach the game with the maximum tranquility, knowing what we need to do.
“We are going to see what are the strengths of Leverkusen and the lower points and keep on doing our thing, sticking to our process and our ideas and do our football.
“To score goals you need to attack so we are not going there to defend. We need to attack. It’s a difficult game because they are very good, with very good attacking players, so we will need to defend.
“The Europa League games are like that, you have to defend well and attack well otherwise you won’t win the match.”
