HOW much would you pay for a back-up player?
I’m talking about a performer who would not be guaranteed a first-team start every week. A solid, reliable sort who can answer the call to duty when required.
Celtic’s record purchase remains the £9million they shelled out for Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain in June 2018 after his impressive initial loan season.
I’m reliably informed that is the sort of money Norwich City are demanding for Adam Idah who was a bit-part player at the Norfolk club before his temporary transfer agreement to Parkhead after the turn of the year.
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHED…Adam Idah celebrates his Scottish Cup winner as Jack Butland is left to reflect on the Celtic’s striker’s quickfire reflexes.
The strapping six-foot Republic of Ireland striker endeared himself to all of a Celtic persuasion when he pounced to drive the Scottish Cup winner behind the floundering Jack Butland in the fading moments at Hampden on the iconic date of May 25.
That was the 23-year-old frontman’s ninth goal in 19 appearances and cemented his place in club folklore.
Idah was recruited by Brendan Rodgers on the last day of the January transfer window and his arrival wasn’t exactly greeted by a fanfare of trumpets. Adam who? That was the common response among the club followers.
Back in March, I stated the Carrow Road club were more than happy to allow their player to join the Hoops, you can check it out in CQN here.
Ostensibly, Idah had been brought in to take some of the burden off the shoulders of Kyogo Furuhashi. For the first time since explosive introduction in August 2021, the Japanese international spearhead was showing signs of fatigue.
There was no option to buy in the transaction for Idah, but £3million was the figure regularly touted. My thoughts four months ago went along the lines of the Championship outfit believing the champions would provide the ideal shop window for their player.
If the Cork-born attack-leader performed to a reasonable standard in the Premiership, they would be in a position to hold an auction in the summer to offload their property to the highest bidder.
It appears my first impression has come to pass.
YANKS A LOT…Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates his strike in the 4-3 win over Manchester City.
I am not privy to the workings inside the Celtic boardroom, but it has been widely reported that an initial bid of around £4.5million for the Cup hero has been booted out by the East Anglian club.
My estimation is that Scotland’s title kings have brought in something in the region of £4million following the sales of Sead Haksabanovic and Oh Hyeon-gyu.
The fees for both players remain unconfirmed, but I think you can forget speculation of £4.5million from Genk for the South Korean striker, so sparingly utilised by Rodgers, particularly following the arrival of Idah.
The all-time high purchase of the Belgian side is just under £6million. They will never be famous for a scattercash approach to buying players.
I reckon a more conservative £2.3million was enough to shake Oh loose from Celtic.
Stoke City were quoted a figure of £2.2million for winger Haksabanovic when he was offloaded by Rodgers in a loan switch in August in the immediate fall-out of a daft statement on the player’s Intstagram page.
The second-tier outfit resisted the offer to make the move permanent and the Sweden-born Montenegro international signed for Malmo last month.
My info is that Celtic received just under £1.7million for the forward which would have covered the initial fee to bring him in from skint Russian outfit Rubin Kazan in August 2022.
GREEN FOR GO…Oh Hyeon-gyu in action in his second last appearance for Celtic, the 1-1 draw with Ayr United at Somerset Park.
Displaying fiscal good sense, the Hoops hierarchy, who are also likely to part with circa £3.5million for Benfica midfielder Paulo Bernardo after his successful loan period, will want to bring in extra funds from some sellable assets.
Taking Matt O’Riley out of the equation, there must be question marks over Mikey Johnston’s future at the champions. He had a season on loan at Portuguese top-flight side Vitoria Guimaraes before returning last summer.
The Glasgow-born Republic of Ireland winger, who still has two years to run on his contract, didn’t convince Rodgers to earn a sufficient amount of top-side appearances and he was shifted onto West Brom at the turn of the year.
Johnston took the chance to show his qualities and thumped in seven goals in 20 outings for the Midlands club. Surprisingly, it’s all gone quiet on that front, but that will surely change as the deadline edges ever closer.
How much could Celtic expect for the player who promised so much in his teens? I’ll leave that to those more skilled in these matters, but, at 25, the tricky forward still has a lot to offer – if, of course, he dodges injury.
Would £6million be out of the question?
Did Rodgers choose to put on Johnston as a substitute in the 4-3 win over Manchester City in North Carolina instead of Yang Hyun-jun to give him the opportunity to shine against Pep Guardiola’s English champions?
The South Korean had appeared eager to please against DC United in Washington in the previous match on the US tour. By all accounts, he looked good and in fine fettle.
JUST CAPITAL…Mikey Johnston shows his joy after scoring in the 4-0 win over DC United in Washington. Yang Hyun-jun and Odin Holm are are about to congratulate the Celtic winger.
Johnston, after replacing Daizen Maeda at the interval, had the entire second-half to go through his array of skills.
So, we await bidders for a wide Bhoy who, for whatever reason, has not lived up to the early hype.
And that takes us back to Idah. He still has four years on his Norwich contract and, for the time being, anyhow, his club hold all the aces.
There is a flip side to everything, of course. What if there is not a clamour from other teams for the services of the hitman after his exploits at Parkhead last season?
Does that leave the pathway clear for the player to get his wish and return to Glasgow?
I fear you and I may be dizzy after the many unexpected twists and turns as the Idah will-he-or-won’t-he saga runs all the way to the wire on August 30.
Acknowledging that Kyogo is the main man, I go back to my original question. (Thanks for sticking with me.)
How much would you pay for a back-up player?
ALEX GORDON
