He is quite an interesting striker- Norwich double down on Idah stance

Adam Idah will be treated like a new signing by Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup as he assesses his squad in pre-season training.

Back in January the Irishman had fallen to third choice striker in David Wagner’s squad with the offer of a loan spell at Celtic suiting all parties.

There was no midnight Welcome Party for Idah when he arrived in Glasgow but two penalties scored away to Hibs on February 7 started to change perceptions.

As loan spells go it could hardly have went any better with Idah playing a key role in Celtic winning the domestic double, rounded off at Hampden with the winning goal in the Scottish Cup Final.

What happens next is the tricky part with Idah saying all the right things when he was quizzed on his future as he celebrated at Hampden.

With a contract running until May 2028 Norwich are in full control of the situation.

Thorup is expected to lead Norwich back to the EPL and is in no hurry to sell the striker that could deliver the 20 goals that could make or break their season.

Discussing Idah’s situation with the local publisher Pink Un the new Norwich boss said:

Imagine that he was a striker in another club with his track record, with his history, academy background and so on. What would we say about him? We would say he is a quite an interesting striker, I would guarantee.

It will be wrong for me to say that we cannot spend time on him, or we should not give him a fair chance as well. I hope that he will find that the way we do things now will also encourage him, and will also give him the feeling that, ‘Okay this is the right place for me’.

That’s the ambition for now, because I think he’s a good player with some good qualities and it could definitely be a striker for us.

For all the players here, it will be unfair for me to say that, from day one, I will just go and say, ‘Okay, we need this and this and this’. No, I have to give them a chance. We have to see.

Sometimes players can surprise from initially we have the thought, ‘Okay, they will maybe not be good enough’, but then you can see in training and some pre-season games that can take the steps. So I think it’s fair for me to give them the chance.

Unless Celtic put in an offer that Norwich can’t turn down it looks like Idah will start the season with the Championship side.

On Saturday Norwich play their first pre-season away to Northampton Town with the Championship opener coming on August 10 away to Oxford United.