Adam Idah is in the dark about a permanent return to Celtic but admitted he felt like a ‘scapegoat’ towards the end of his Norwich City spell last season.
The forward is currently with the Republic of Ireland squad preparing for a midweek friendly against Portugal, but is heavily touted with a Bhoys’ reunion this summer after a prolific goalscoring loan spell.
Idah plundered nine goals in 19 appearances – including the winner in the Scottish cup final to sink Rangers – to secure a league and cup double.
The 23-year-old has four years left on his Carrow Road contract but must wait to see if he is part of new head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup’s plans.
“I'm still contracted to Norwich and have four years left there. I'm still going back to Norwich as it stands, I haven't really thought too much about it,” he said, speaking to reporters ahead of the game in Portugal.
“I spoke briefly to Norwich about when I'm coming back. It's difficult at the start of the window as it's coming up to our summer holidays and we're on internationals right now.
“I've never been in this situation before and don't know much about how it works.
“We're on internationals right now and that is my main focus. Then I’ll get a holiday or two in and see what happens.”
But asked if he would like to sign for Celtic, Idah said: “Look, I'm still at Norwich and I have four years at Norwich. They are my parent club and I don't know what's going on.”
Idah was frustrated at his lack of game time under former City boss David Wagner, despite scoring a number of key goals from the substitutes’ bench before his January loan switch to Parkhead.
Clubs from Serie A and the Championship showed firm interest before he jumped at the chance to link up with Brendan Rodgers at the club he supported as a boy.
“Going to that new environment was unbelievable for me and to have everyone behind you and supporting you is probably what I needed,” he said. “I struggled a bit at Norwich, probably on the back end of a lot of things, with the way the team was going and I was probably the scapegoat to that.
“Going to Celtic really brightened it up for me and gave me a lot of confidence. For a striker to have that confidence is amazing.”
Ireland star Adam Idah in Celtic transfer limbo as he reveals Norwich City expectationshttps://t.co/Ih0oI8XZcY
— Irish Mirror Sport (@MirrorSportIE) June 10, 2024
When prompted by reporters to explain why he had felt a ‘scapegoat’ Idah replied: “I just think the (Norwich) fans and the media.
“It felt that anything I was doing was wrong. If I scored a goal, it wasn't as good as the last time. If I don't play minutes, I'm not good enough. I was just stuck in that hole.
“It probably happens to everyone in football, not just me. It was just unfortunate that I was in it at that period but who knows what's going to happen.
“To be fair, Norwich has been brilliant. The club itself has been fantastic to me. They have shown so much support and faith in me which I can only thank them for.
“Overall, I have enjoyed Norwich. It's the club that brought me up and where I started my career. I can only say good things about them.
“This is part of the football culture. You get a lot of lulls in your football career, and probably the last two years I was having those lulls.
“But I never once doubted my abilities. People say I've had a lot of injuries, but I've only had two injuries. I don't know where this has come from, that I'm very injury prone.
“That's exactly what I'm saying, it’s probably the media and the fans saying I've always been injured but I've had two injuries, two contact injuries.
"I've never pulled a muscle in my career. That's the strange one for me, to be hearing that I'm always injured because it's not the case.
“I never doubted myself once in my career. I've always been confident and I'm glad I got to show that this season.”
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