John Hartson has questioned whether Celtic are getting value for money after their £9.5million summer swoop for Adam Idah.
Brendan Rodgers had the Irish striker at the top of his transfer wishlist after a successful six month loan stint in Glasgow last season. But with no pre-agreed fee with Norwich City and and the Canaries well aware of how keen the Hoops were to land Idah and played hardball over his Carrow Road exit. A deal was eventually struck and Idah returned north, but he’s only had a bit part role so far.
Hartson understands why Rodgers pursued a deal for Idah given he knew what he was getting and the Cork man had shown he could produce the goods for the Parkhead club. But Kyogo remains Rodgers’ undisputed first pick and Idah is starting to look like an expensive backup option. And Hartson wonders if there night have been a more efficient option out there for his former club given the money they spent.
“I don’t know how many were on Celtic’s shopping list, I have to be honest with you,” Hartson told GO Radio. “But they went for Adam Idah. I think we all got, not sucked in, but we were all impressed last season.
I think it was 19 appearances, a lot of them were off the bench, delighted that he scored the winning goal in the cup final against Rangers. He made a real big hero of himself. Big name for himself. Scored some big goals, by the way, in the run-in.
“He hasn’t hit the ground running. One of them reasons is that it’s very hard to dislodge Kyogo. Sometimes when you feel that you are next man in and not the number one striker, it can give you that lack of confidence and you are thinking ‘the manager isn’t putting me in this week’, in terms of being the main number nine. I think sometimes that can halt your confidence.
“I am not going to criticise him too much, but I am not sure who else Celtic had their eye on last season. He cost £9 million. A lot of the fans might just say well. Could we have got a better one? One of the reasons why Celtic took him is because he did so well on loan. He seemed the obvious one.”