AT THE END of training with Celtic yesterday, Adam Idah was taken aside by manager Brendan Rodgers.
Their work for the day was not done.
Rodgers oversaw the morning’s session with first-team coach John Kennedy ahead of tomorrow’s away trip to Hibernian, and the Celtic boss was about to take an even more active approach with Idah.
He spent 30 minutes with the Republic of Ireland striker working on some finishing drills, a one-on-one approach to development that has been the hallmark of his rise as a coach.
Given that Idah is only on loan at Celtic Park for the remainder of the season – and there is no option to buy as part of the deal – he might not have expected such treatment.
Rodgers, and Celtic, need Idah to settle quickly. He showed his intent by coming off the bench to set up the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at the weekend and the three-point lead at the top over Rangers can be wiped out if they win their game in hand.
This was a move to Glasgow that materialised in the space of 24 hours once Rodgers was made aware of the players’ availability.
Norwich City had been willing to allow Idah seek pastures new on a temporary basis after discussions with the player in December. Clubs in the Championship were keen and Norwich were prepared to let him head to an opponent in the same division.
Stoke City and Sheffield Wednesday made strong plays with the latter favoured by the parent club.
Circumstances changed when one of their on-loan strikers, Hwang Ui-jo, suffered a hamstring injury and returned to Nottingham Forest.
Idah was informed of the change of plans but still only made three substitute appearances with less than 60 minutes of action in the Championship last month.
That is why he pushed for a move, and Norwich eventually relented.
By this stage Verona, fighting for survival in Serie A, were at the top of the queue. They wanted an option to buy, something that Norwich weren’t prepared to offer given the player only signed a new five-year contract in February 2023, and the move petered out.
That is when Rodgers was made aware of Idah being an option. A call was made, the Celtic manager gave the deal the green light straight away and Idah and Norwich came to an agreement.
“We have to say after Adam made his point clear that he likes to go on loan, for me, what was clear, that when we can find an alternative, it makes no sense to keep someone desperate to go on loan,” Canaries boss David Wagner said this week.
“I totally respect Adam’s decision and his thoughts. At the right moment, I backed this because our aims and targets are too high and we have to have a group who’s committed 100%. The chance popped up quite late to get maybe Sydney [van Hooijdonk] on loan and then with an option to buy as well, so it was the perfect scenario.
“I got Adam’s point. And this is why I backed this decision. Even if I would have been fine if he wanted to stay and fight for his spot. I want players desperate to be here and to push for our highest target, and for this, everyone’s mind has to be right. And now we know which group we have together.”
Idah turns 23 this Sunday – Celtic are again away to St Mirren in the Scottish Cup – and has yet to play 90 minutes in five consecutive games since making senior debut in August 2019. In almost five years since, the young striker has endured his fair share of injuries but also struggled to shake off the tag of callow academy graduate.
Idah pushed for a move away in order to prove himself outside of the comfort blanket of the only club he has known since leaving Cork.
In February of last year he signed that long-term contract that will see him through until 2028 and the relationship he has with Norwich’s sporting director Ben Knapper, and Wagner, remains positive.
But the feeling was a different kind of challenge was required to prove his credentials as a striker who can be relied upon to be a leading man rather than simply a talented academy product who was viewed through a different prism to other established first-team players.
At Celtic he will face a different kind of pressure and if he rises to the demands everyone will be a winner from an opportunity that was too good to turn down.