Celtic have been linked with bringing Norwich City striker Adam Idah back to the Scottish Premiership on a permanent deal after his exploits during his loan spell last term, but nothing has materialised so far, leaving Chris Sutton worried.
The Republic of Ireland international notched nine goals and two assists in 19 appearances for the Hoops after joining them on loan for the rest of 2023-24 in February, and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers wants to recruit his services permanently.
However, getting a deal over the line has proven tricky, with the English Championship club insisting the Parkhead club meet their demands before selling Idah to them.
Celtic started 2024-25 with Kyogo Furuhashi leading the line and providing an assist in the 4-0 win over Kilmarnock last weekend, but Sutton believes relying on the Japanese as their only recognised striker for the campaign will be a huge gamble on their part.
“If the figures that were coming out of Lisbon were correct, Benfica wanted £6 million to do a permanent deal for Paulo Bernardo,” the former Bhoys striker told the Daily Record.
“The general consensus is that Celtic managed to get it over the line paying out just an initial £3.5 million. If that is the case, they have got the Portuguese midfielder for almost half the initial asking price and that type of shrewd business work is what has put Celtic into this healthy financial position.
“But, now and again, I’d say you have to go the other way. If money was saved on Bernardo, add it to the Adam Idah deal and get that over the line quicker. It’s a huge risk gambling on Kyogo being the only recognised striker. I get there are no Champions League qualifiers, but you can’t become complacent and think every game domestically is a forgone conclusion.
“Hopefully, the Japanese stays fit, but not keeping or replacing Oh Hyeon-gyu in the short term has left Celtic unnecessarily short.”
Kyogo, 29, bagged 19 goals and five assists in 50 games last term, and while it is a decent return in the final third, it is a huge decline as he notched 34 goals and five assists in the same number of games in 2022-23.
His debut season (2021-22) at Celtic ended with 20 goals and five assists in 33 games, and his decline last term should be a huge worry.
The Hoops cannot rely only on Kyogo if they are to continue their domestic dominance and impress in Europe, and they have to land Idah as soon as possible.
