Adam Idah, I think it’s fair to say, has been a sensation since joining Celtic on loan from Norwich City in January.
The 23-year-old arrived at Parkhead as Norwich’s third-choice striker with not much of a fan-fare but when his loan deal finally expires at the end of this month, Idah returns to the Championship club a Celtic hero.
Scoringimportant goals against Rangers in the league and the Scottish Cup final elevated Idah into the hearts of the Celtic fans and now, they will all be hoping that Brendan Rodgers will make the temporary move a permanent one.
Brendan Rodgers is in no doubt what he wants to do and as reports this morning suggest that the Celtic board are set to back him in the pursuit of Idah, the Hoops support will be excited to see how this move pans out.
Sutton: Celtic will need to ‘splash out’ for Idah
However, it may cost more than the £5m that Norwich originally may have wanted for their striker and, according to Chris Sutton, Celtic may have to pay double the original quoted fee.
Sutton said [Monday Night Club], “I think this is a really difficult one and I understand the Celtic fans’ frustration with it. But for example, when Ange Postecoglou came in, and we’ve spoken about this before, he targeted the Japanese market where it was a good market to target where they got quality players in for reasonable money.
“But it’s what level Celtic are prepared to go to in terms of a development player? And you look at the money down in the English Premier League and it’s it’s difficult because there are no guarantees.
“But you have to look at what Brendan Rodgers is doing. Brendan Rodgers is an outstanding coach, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. And he is a developer of players.
“But the big debate at Celtic now amongst the Celtic fan base is Adam Idah.
“Adam Idah is on a long-term contract at Norwich, there was no deal in place where he would sign for Celtic at the end of the loan.
“Now what would you price Adam Idah at? And that’s the difficulty. I suspect he may be something like £7m, £8m, £9m. Norwich may want even more.
“I think he is on quite a long-term contract there. But, remember Odsonne Edouard when he signed for Celtic from PSG?
“I think he was £9m. So Celtic may have to splash out they might not like doing it but they have to pay that.”
With nine goals this season, I would have said that £5m is a fair price to pay for a player that Norwich didn’t deem good enough to start for them just four short months ago.
But if what Sutton says is correct, then I worry that Celtic could baulk at the numbers he is quoting and end up moving on to other targets.
Whilst I would love Idah so sign, anything further north of £5m, maybe even £6m, might be too rich for the Celtic board and I would tend to agree.
Let’s face it, Idah was going nowhere until Celtic stepped in. To try and claim a fee like £9m would just be ludicrous and Celtic would be right to walk away.
However, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that and both clubs can negotiate a sensible deal for the Irishman because he would be a great addition to the Celtic team for next season.