After his initial £8.5 million move, Adam Idah argues that his pre-season at Norwich City left him way off the pace to make an early impression at ‘big club’ Celtic.
Idah opened his Champions League account in a 5-1 thumping of Slovan Bratislava, and he has scored three goals in his previous two outings, including the catalyst for a Scottish League Cup comeback against Falkirk.
The 23-year-old maintains that the intensity and expectations of playing for the Bhoys and spending a short time working with Johannes Hoff Thorup’s team during the off-season are not comparable.
Idah, who had made it plain that he intended to return to Parkhead after a fruitful loan period, became entangled in an extensive summer transfer story.
After receiving punishment for skipping a club trip to an Austrian training camp, the Republic of Ireland international was allowed to leave City in a deal that had a 15% sell-on clause and the potential to earn up to £9.5 million.
Just two of Celtic’s first seven games have seen Idah start, and he acknowledges he is still learning.
Yes, 100% of it, he replied. “Look, during preseason, I wasn’t really active. Before anyone gets too attached, it was just how we trained down in Norwich; it wasn’t me throwing it.
We’re in major clubs, so obviously it’s not as intense down there as it is here, but we still want to be on it.
“Well, I was about a week behind when I initially arrived, but now that I’m logging minutes, I’m beginning to see some progress towards my goals.
Now that I’m feeling well, I won’t be far behind. I just need to keep sticking with it and I’ll get there.”
Idah described the moment he scored his Champions League goal last week as “surreal.”
“It didn’t feel real at the beginning when the ball hit the back of the net,” he remarked, as reported by The Herald. “It seemed like just another goal, and as I was celebrating, it dawned on me, and that’s when you saw the knee slide occur.
It fulfilled a dream. Every football player, in my opinion, aspires to compete in the Champions League, so scoring on my debut was incredible.
“We’re off to a great start in the Champions League, and we just want to keep going. It was an amazing night.”
“I now have self-confidence, and it was definitely incredible to go for it. My motivation to keep going and progress is greatly increased by doing these things on European evenings, whether they are at Celtic Park or somewhere else.
We need to believe that we are a strong team and that we can defeat any opponent. We also need to feel confident in our ability to perform as a unit.
“I believe it’s evident that we’ve been outstanding right from the beginning of the season.
“It is now our responsibility to maintain that momentum, maintain our focus, and keep moving forward in order to pursue bigger goals.”
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