Celtic legend Chris Sutton feels Norwich City loanee Adam Idah may be adding a new string to his bow at the Scottish Premiership champions while backing the striker to secure a permanent move to Glasgow.
Did you know that the Republic of Ireland international had never scored a header in his senior career? That was, of course, until Celtic travelled to Motherwell last weekend.
As Adam Idah latched onto a fine Greg Taylor crossed and buried a finish Sutton himself would have been proud of, you would have been forgiven for assuming this was the sort of goal he was scoring week-in, week-out south of the border.
Not so.
Chris Sutton impressed with Celtic’s January signing
Idah’s 20th career strike was the first scored with his head. And while the 23-year-old clearly still has work to do with regards to his aerial threat – he squandered an arguably easier chance later on during Sunday’s 3-1 win at Motherwell – Sutton is pleased to see Idah make some progress on an obvious area of weakness.
“Adam Idah has taken to life at Celtic like a duck to water,” the Hoops hero tells Anglian publication The Pink ‘Un. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him header it like he did against Motherwell. It was full of quality and confidence.
“It’s early days, but he looks like a slightly different player at Celtic. It’s not fair to say he was going through the motions at Norwich, but you always felt there was more in there to be extracted.”
Idah now has four goals in just five games under Brendan Rodgers. Two of those did come from the spot but, after following up that thumping header with a 94th minute decider at Firhill, Idah is proving himself to be not only a scorer of important goals but a scorer of many different types of goals in Celtic green.
“The way Idah used his body and his physicality really impressed me. He held up the ball well and had defenders bouncing off him. His second finish was brilliant,” Sutton adds.
“It’s not an easy one, but it was a big goal.”
Celtic vs Rangers in title fight
With Rodgers’ struggling to get the same mesmerising tune out of Kyogo Furuhashi that predecessor Ange Postecoglou managed, the more powerful, aggressive Idah is making a claim to become Celtic’s go-to number nine during what is shaping up to be a bitter, bloody title fight with Old Firm adversaries Rangers.
Sutton, meanwhile, insists that Idah still has a long way to go before he can earn himself a long-term stay in Glasgow.
“It’s been one hell of a start. But they have a couple of games against Rangers before the end of the season. And that is where you really get judged as a Celtic player,” Sutton adds.
“I’m really pleased for him. The goals are important but it’s more the quality of them. It will be an interesting one to watch what happens at the end of the season.
“If he does well at Celtic, I suspect he will want to stay. But the lack of option in the deal will keep potential other suitors interested. It wouldn’t surprise me if those Italian teams who displayed a keenness in January to do a deal returned to the table.”
Celtic host Dundee tonight. HITC Football, meanwhile, understands the Hoops are watching Trabzonspor goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir as Joe Hart plans for retirement.
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