ADAM IDAH’S valuation appears to have TREBLED in his four months of action at Celtic.
The figure of £3million was originally mentioned when the 23-year-old Norwich City bit-part player arrived at Parkhead in a loan deal on January deadline day.
Idah scored nine goals over the period, including, of course, the last-minute Scottish Cup winner against Philippe Clement’s Ibrox outfit at Hampden at the weekend.
That scoring ratio appears to be enough to see the Cork-born star’s rocket to £9MILLION, according to one-time Hoops striker Chris Sutton.
MATCHWINNER…Adam Idah fires the Scottish Cup clincher past Jack Butland.
That’s what I call inflation, folks. I did say, as reported in CQN in March, that the Carrow Road hierarchy would see the sense in the short-term switch for their player who would be performing to a wider audience at Brendan Rodgers’ champions and would attract more interest if he performed to a reasonable standard in that particular shop window.
Idah has four years to run on his terms at the East Anglian club and, of course, there was no agreement for Celtic to pay a specific amount for the powerhouse in the contract.
Two and a half years earlier, Benfica had put a £6.5million price tag on Filipe Jota when he went to Parkhead on an original 12-month temporary transfer. After a convincing first season in Scotland, the Hoops hierarchy were more than delighted to cough up.
After receiving glowing reports of their player’s impressive performances at Ange Postecoglou’s team, the Portuguese realised they had severely undervalued the potential of the 22-year-old winger.
I was informed by someone I have known for years and a person of some stature, the Lisbon club attempted to move Jota for bigger bucks elsewhere. That would have meant Benfica breaking their contract with Celtic which would have meant them paying compensation around the £1million mark. A paltry figure, all things concerned.
Jota, though, apparently pushed for the deal to go through at Parkhead and the Portuguese club had to be satisfied with insisting on a mesmerising 40 per cent sell-on fee on any profit if – or when – the flamboyant forward moved on from Scotland.
Twelve months later, the fans’ favourite, after playing his part in the club’s world record eighth domestic treble, was on his way to Saudi Arabia for £25million. My arithmetic, admittedly a tad dodgy as my accountant will readily attest, tells me Benfica then received a further £7.4m for the player.
ON THE BALL…Filipe Jota’s value soared at Celtic.
Add that to the original £6.5m and the Lisbon club must have been satisfied with £13.9m for a player who struggled to get into their first-team squad.
Is it any wonder they were keen for Paulo Bernardo to embark upon a similar route last summer?
And that takes us back to Idah. Norwich were so bitterly disappointed they did not win their way through the Championship play-off semi-finals against Leeds United on their intended course back among the big-time that they sacked manager David Warner.
The riches of the Premier League vanished in a puff of smoke – and a 4-0 thrashing at Elland Road – and, quite rightly, the club are looking at clawing in compensation cash from other sources.
Step forward, Adam Idah and Celtic.
It makes fiscal good sense to attempt to get as much for your property. The young Irishman’s status has been unarguably elevated during his stint in the green and white hoops and his goal return has been more than decent from 18 appearances.
But will the Hoops powerbrokers be persuaded to match their highest ever fee of £9million which they paid for Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain in 2018 after the French prospect had convinced a first time-around Brendan Rodgers of his potential?
There was a tidy profit when the cavalier frontman moved to Crystal Palace in August 2021 and I believe the Ligue 1 outfit received a cut of the profits in that fee, too.
We all accept Rodgers is an outstanding coach with a formidable track record for getting the most out of his players. He has the ability develop their skills and undoubtedly enhance their overall ability.
BY THE LEFT…Mikey Johnston in action at West Brom.
Of course, there is a flip side to everything, dear reader. Mikey Johnston is on his way back to Celtic after his short-term loan at West Brom where he ripped it up and scored seven goals – a few of them in the eye-catching variety – in his 20 appearances for the team that operate in the same division as Norwich City.
Like Idah, the winger is a Republic of Ireland international and, at 25, has a full career ahead of him. He still has two years to run on his contract at the champions and his future at the moment is up in the air.
The Midlands club are also counting the cost of the prospect of another season in the English second tier and are highly unlikely to adopt a scattercash policy in an effort to propel themselves back to elite level.
But if observers, with ex-Celt Sutton among them, are saying Idah is worth circa £9m, then Celtic are quite within their rights to ask how highly do they rate Johnston.
It looks as though the wide Bhoy’s time in the east end of Glasgow is coming to an end and the champions will look for a top fee for a player they have nurtured since a teenager and watched him develop into a mainstay for his adopted country.
Welcome to the multi-million pound merry-go-round, my friends.
There are certain to be a few unexpected spins before the transfer window closes at the end of August.
Strap yourself in, folks. Here we go again.
