Norwich boss says Adam Idah will be 'important player' for them
Celtic's hopes of landing Adam Idah on a permanent deal have been dented after Norwich City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup revealed he thinks the striker will be an important player for them this season.
The 23-year old started their 3-0 friendly defeat to Club Brugge on Wednesday and was taken off during the first half in a pre-planned substitution
Brendan Rodgers is keen to bring Idah back to Parkhead after a successful loan spell.
The Republic of Ireland international scored nine times in 19 matches - including goals against Rangers and late winners in other matches.
An initial offer has already been knocked back by the England Championship side, with their boss expecting big things from him this season.
Speaking after the defeat to Brugge, Thorup said: “Good to see him back. He’s been a part of the group now for a little bit more than a week. I’ve had a couple of sessions with the boys and it's important for us to get him started.
“Important for him to get in and have some minutes again and I think we could see what he can support this team with. So it’s nice to have him back on the pitch and I think he will be a valuable player for us.”
In an interview with the Pinkun, he added: "Like I said at the beginning of pre-season, we consider Adam as an important player for us so that's why he got 30 minutes today which was important for him to get started and get back in the rhythm, nice and easy.
"He's had more or less one full training week so that's why we were pretty sure that it would only be half an hour today.
"Hopefully, on Saturday we can build him up to a little bit more. From watching his qualities and what he can do, he will be an important player for us. We have to take into consideration this was the first 30 minutes from him for a long while and he will be better. But I think he showed some signs of what we can get out of him.
"We gave him a couple of passes where he had to chest it and hold it and gave a couple of lay-offs to progress the game. I think he did well in that sense. We could have used him even more in the offensive part of the game but I think that will come. From what I see, it's a matter of time.
"Me and Adam sit down quite often so we've had some good conversations already. He's a good kid. He's working hard and he's funny as well. He gives some energy to the group. We can see what kind of striker he is already and we can definitely use him in the season. So that's what we work with."