The new season kicks off in less than a month for Celtic and they are yet to dip into the market to make their first signing of the summer transfer window.
Kilmarnock await the Bhoys at Paradise in the opening match of the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership campaign and it remains to be seen whether or not there will be any new faces for the supporters to look forward to seeing in action.
A new number one is on the agenda for the Hoops after Joe Hart officially retired from professional football at the end of May, following three seasons in Glasgow.
Newcastle United's Martin Dubravka and Croatia star Dominik Livakovic have both been linked with transfers to Parkhead to fill the vacant position.
Along with a new first-choice shot-stopper for Brendan Rodgers, the Premiership champions could also look to bolster their attacking options ahead of next season.
Celtic were held to a 1-1 draw by lower league side Ayr in their first pre-season friendly, with their only goal coming via Kyogo Furuhashi's penalty, and they may want to improve their firepower before the window slams shut.
Celtic pursuing deal for Irish striker
According to the Daily Record, the Hoops are 'confident' of securing a deal to sign centre-forward Adam Idah on a permanent basis from Norwich City.
The report does not, however, reveal what their next step is with the Canaries or how much they are prepared to pay to land the Ireland international.
BBC Sport reported last week that the English Championship side officially rejected an offer of between £4m and £5m from the Hoops for the 6 foot 3 attacker.
The outlet added that the Yellows are not actively looking to cash in on their talented academy graduate, as Johannes Hoff Thorup – who replaced David Wagner this summer – is keen to take a look at him in pre-season.
HITC then published a claim that it could take a fee of up to £8m to sign the 23-year-old marksman from Norwich, who are said to be open to selling the attacker for the right price.
This latest report from the Daily Record states that the club are confident, though, and this suggests that they feel they can reach an agreement with the Canaries.
They may either be ready to splash out £8m to make it happen or they could reach a compromise and pay a fee between £5m and £8m to secure his services.
If the Bhoys can eventually get a deal over the line for the Irish sensation then they could repeat the masterclass they played with the signing Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain.
Celtic's Odsonne Edouard masterclass
The Hoops initially signed the French centre-forward on loan from the Ligue 1 giants for the 2017/18 campaign and he enjoyed a solid debut season at Parkhead.
Edouard ended the term with a return of nine goals and three assists in 22 Premiership appearances for the Scottish giants, with three goals and one assist in three top-six split matches.
His form during that loan spell convinced the Bhoys to splash out a club-record transfer fee of £9m to sign him from PSG on a permanent deal in the summer of 2018.
18/19
32
15
6
19/20
27
22
11
20/21
31
18
6
21/22
4
2
1
Total
94
57
24
As you can see in the table above, Edouard then went on to prove himself to be a prolific scorer for the Premiership side over the next three-and-a-bit years.
He averaged more than one goal every other game in the league for Celtic over just over three seasons as a permanent player, following his loan, and that attracted interest from elsewhere.
In the summer of 2021, Premier League outfit Crystal Palace swooped in to sign the French marksman in a £14m deal that could rise to a whopping £18.5m.
This shows that they pulled off a masterclass with the signing of Edouard as they made a significant profit on the £9m they spent to snap him up after his initial loan stint.
Therefore, their bold decision to smash their club-record transfer fee to ensure that they landed him on a permanent deal turned out to be a blinder.
Why Adam Idah could be Odsonne Edouard 2.0
Whilst the £8m figure touted for Idah would not break the club's transfer record, signing the Norwich ace looks set to take a huge amount of money for Celtic and they should now press ahead to sign him as the Irishman could turn out to be Edouard 2.0.
At the age of 23, they would be signing a centre-forward who has plenty of time left on his hands to develop and improve over the years to come.
This means that the £23k-per-week attacker could grow whilst working with Rodgers on the training pitch and increase his value by performing well on the pitch for Celtic.
That could then attract interest from elsewhere and land him a big-money move back down south to net the Hoops another huge payday, which was also the case with Edouard.
Idah's form for the club during his loan spell at Parkhead in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign suggests that the potential is there for him to follow in the Frenchman's footsteps to become a consistent and lethal scorer in the Premiership.
Appearances
15
Starts
5
Goals
8
Big chances missed
7
Conversion rate
27%
Minutes per goal
76
Assists
2
As you can see in the table above, the Ireland international racked up a staggering eight goals in just five league starts for the Scottish giants.
Idah, whose ability was hailed as "incredible" by Rodgers, averaged a goal every 76 minutes – more than one every 90 minutes – and that was considerably better than Kyogo's return of one goal every 179 minutes in the division.
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Therefore, Celtic must now sign the Norwich gem on a permanent deal this summer in the hope that he can carry that form over to a full season in Scotland and push on to become Edouard 2.0 at Parkhead.