Exclusive: Celtic face fresh competition for ‘quality’ Norwich City star Brendan Rodgers loves

Fiorentina and Hellas Verona are ready to rival Celtic for Norwich striker Adam Idah in this summer’s transfer window, TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal.

Celtic are keen to re-sign Idah on a permanent basis following his successful loan spell in Glasgow during the second half of last season.

The 23-year-old played a huge role in Celtic’s league and cup double, scoring nine goals and providing two assists – including the winner against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has never hidden his desire to bring Idah back to Celtic Park and the player himself has been keen to join the club on a permanent basis.

“Hopefully we can do something,” Rodgers said when asked about Idah in May.

“He has a long-term contract at Norwich but he’s definitely one I’d love to bring back. At 23, with the potential & quality he has, I think he can really push on.”

However, sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk that Norwich are in no rush to sell Idah and are refusing to do business unless their valuation of the forward is met.

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Several other clubs have been keeping tabs on Idah’s situation this summer and TEAMtalk can reveal Serie A duo Fiorentina and Verona are both big admirers of the Republic of Ireland international.

Verona have held a long-term interest in Idah and made an offer to sign him during the January transfer window prior to his move to Celtic.

Fiorentina and Verona are both keen to add to their attacking options this summer and we understand that Idah figures highly on both clubs’ wanted lists.

Idah still has four years to run on his current Norwich deal and it remains to be seen if any of his interested suitors can agree a deal with the Canaries to allow them to sanction his departure.

Adam Idah open to Celtic return

Idah enjoyed his loan with Celtic last season though  and has made no secret of the fact that he would be open to joining the Glasgow side permanently.

“I’ve been loving it [at Celtic], but I am still contracted to Norwich. I’ll have some time off now and see what happens,” Idah said in May.

“But it has been amazing. I probably didn’t expect it to be as good as what it was. I’ve said it before, this has really changed my career around. I wasn’t in the best of places when I was down south.

“But I’ve come up here and the players, the staff, the fans, they’ve all welcomed me in and they’ve given me that confidence and belief to enjoy playing football again.

“I was always quite confident in my own ability, but I knew coming here, the demand of the club and the pressure, I do enjoy that but no-one knows what is going to happen. I got off to a good start and just thrived off that belief. The support here has been top-class.

“You can put how well I have done down to that. I probably wasn’t enjoying my football down south. I was a scapegoat and it’s tough when you’re in there. The love I’ve had here has been amazing. I’m loving it here.

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“But what happens next is not up to me. Football works in strange ways. I’m still contracted at Norwich. I’ll have my time off and enjoy it as much as I can, and I’ll see what happens.

“I’ve certainly got a few messages asking me to stay. We set targets and that was getting to two trophies and we’ve done that. We got the job done so let’s see what happens now.”