Norwich City burned Celtic FC’s transfer fingers - Ben Knapper must’ve laughed to the bank | OneFootball

Norwich City did well to make a huge profit on striker Adam Idah with his £9.5 million sale to Celtic.

Norwich City have done some extremely impressive business in the last decade or so with the Canaries unearthing some real gems – but they have also done a very good job at selling high, too.

One of the best examples of that would have to be the sale of Adam Idah to Celtic back in the summer of 2024, with Norwich earning a hefty fee of £9.5 million for a player that was always set to be on the periphery of things in the Championship.

Having turned professional with Norwich in 2019, Idah did appear to be a player of immense promise as he made 12 appearances in the 2019/20 Premier League campaign.

The following season, in the Championship, should have been an ideal situation for Idah to kick on and become a stalwart of a promotion-challenging Norwich side.

However, the Irishman often flattered to deceive despite three goals in 17 games and his entire career at Carrow Road was full of moments of quality to suggest a bit of consistency may well mark him out as one of the best strikers in the division – but that consistency never came.

After a better but still underwhelming start to the 2023/24 season, Norwich eventually sanctioned Idah’s initial loan move to Celtic and it was the start of a move that would net the Canaries a hefty and unexpected profit.

Adam Idah began well at Celtic and earned Norwich millions

Having switched to Celtic mid-way through the 2023/24 campaign, Idah was tasked with helping the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Luis Palma and Nicolas Kuhn in an extremely impressive Bhoys’ attack.

Not only did Idah prove worthwhile at bolstering that forward line and providing depth, with eight goals in 15 Scottish Premiership matches as the Hoops claimed yet another league title, Idah marked himself out as an essential player for Brendan Rodgers.

Idah became a cult hero at Celtic Park quite quickly, especially with the winning goal scored against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park to seal the domestic double late on in the campaign.

It became paramount for Celtic to ensure that Idah remained in Glasgow on a permanent basis and so their summer transfer window, which included the arrivals of Kasper Schmeichel, Paulo Bernarrdo, Auston Trusty and Arne Engels was dominated by the pursuit of Idah.

Eventually, despite having scored just 17 goals in 116 appearances for Norwich across all competitions, City managed to cash in on the Republic of Ireland international for a fee believed to be in the region of £9.5 million.

Having returned to Celtic as something of a prolific, trophy securing hero, his status with the Scottish giants began to regress after signing on a permanent deal.

Idah, despite the abundance of chances created for him in a league dominated by Celtic, would only manage 13 goals in 35 Premiership appearances.

For context, Furuhashi, who departed the club for Stade Rennais mid-way through the season, finished only three goals behind that tally, despite just 22 appearances, while Reo Hatate, something of a more defensive-minded box-to-box midfielder, also finished just three behind him as Idah chased Kuhn and Maeda at the top of the Celtic scoring charts.

Having become known for missing big chances, missing 19 of them, the most of any Celtic player that season, and just a general ineffectiveness, it became clear quite quickly that Norwich had managed to rip Celtic off.

On the final day of the summer transfer window in September 2025, Swansea swooped in to help Celtic out and provide them with £6 million for Idah. It perhaps speaks volumes that Celtic were more than content to accept a £3.5 million loss.

As was the case with Norwich and then eventually at Celtic, Idah, despite the fee, is down the pecking order in South Wales and providing further proof that Norwich CEO Ben Knapper managed to secure an excellent deal with Idah’s initial sale in August 2024.