TEEMU PUKKI HAS left Norwich City after five successful years at the club, clearing the way for his protege to take up his mantle.
Pukki spent five years at Norwich and was of great benefit to Adam Idah across that time, and Idah now says manager David Wagner has told him he has an opportunity to fill the void.
“Teemu was massive to me since I came in”, said Idah from the Irish training base in Antalya today. “When I first came to Norwich I wasn’t playing many games and I was really frustrated, but he helped me through that.
“Looking back now, it was stupid of me to be frustrated as he was scoring all these goals but even off the pitch he helped me, [showing me] what to do outside of football. On the pitch, he was fantastic. He’s a great player to look up to with all the goals he has scored in Championships and the Premier League. He is a great professional.
“Every new season is a big opportunity for me. Obviously it was difficult – when he was at Norwich, he was the main man and next season is going to be a big one for me to try to get myself in the team.
“But I think me and the manager know it’s going to be a good opportunity for me to try to become the main striker at Norwich. I just have to be the best I can to get in.”
Norwich have shown faith in Idah, and in February he signed a new contract with the club stretching to 2028.
“Norwich have been fantastic”, said Idah, “the support they have given me gave me a big confidence boost to get back to my old self, and get back playing again.”
Crucial to Idah’s flourishing at Norwich is a better run of luck through injury. Having made his Premier League breakthrough in the 2021/22 season – scoring his first goal in a 2-1 win at home to Everton while playing in a front two alongside Pukki – he suffered a knee injury that ended his season. A stop-start return to fitness meant Idah missed all of Ireland’s games in 2022, having broken into the first team the year previous, where he was outstanding in the World Cup qualifier away to Portugal.
Idah made his Norwich return last December, and has enjoyed a relatively clear run since.
“It was a frustrating couple of months. I just started playing games with Norwich before the injury. As a player it is not nice to get injured, seeing your club team and the Irish team play games, it is annoying because you want to be out there playing with all the boys.
“I came back in December and I was probably at about 70 per cent. I’ve played every game since for Norwich so playing these games, starting and coming on gave me a big help.
“Right now, I feel like I am back to normal fitness. We had three weeks off when the season finished and I did some running throughout then. We’ve come in here to do some training so I am feeling good, it is just about playing games and getting some minutes in.”
Idah and the rest of the Irish squad are in Antalya for a 10-day training camp, where they are preparing for next week’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Greece in Athens. That is followed by the more straightforward task of a home qualifier against Gibraltar on Monday week.
One of Ireland’s issues is the long lay-off for their Championship players, a large caucus of the squad which includes Idah. By the time the Greece game kicks off, it will have been 39 days since the Championship season ended.
“It is going to be a bit of a disadvantage, having three weeks off”, said Idah, “but the staff here gave us programmes and all the boys stuck to that.
“We spoke in the last camp about showing commitment if we want to qualify.
“It is challenge but we are all professionals and know what we have to do, and what we are capable of. It’s why we are out in Turkey right now, getting the warm weather training camp in and getting as fit as we can.”
Idah has generally been used as a lone striker by Stephen Kenny thus far, replacing Evan Ferguson against France in March. He has played some of his best football for Norwich alongside Pukki in a front two, however, and believes he and Ferguson could play together if asked.
“To play with Evan would be great. I think everyone knows he’s a fantastic player and who knows Evan and me could be playing together in Greece and, if not, we’ll both support each other and do the best we can for our country.”