One of the hardest parts of recruitment in football is finding a consistent and reliable centre-forward to score goals on a regular basis, as Celtic have found out in recent years.
Kyogo Furuhashi had filled that role for the Hoops for several years, even scoring 34 goals in all competitions in the 2022/23 campaign, but the club have struggled since his departure at the start of 2025.
One of the signings made in an attempt to replace the Japan international was Adam Idah, who initially joined on loan from Norwich City before signing permanently in the summer of 2024.
The Scottish Premiership giants agreed a deal worth up to £9.5m to sign the Ireland international on a permanent basis, which turned out to be a costly mistake.
How Adam Idah’s career at Celtic unfolded
At the time of his move to the club permanently in the middle of August in 2024, Idah was potentially the club’s most expensive signing of all time if add-ons were met.
Celtic’s record signings at time of Idah’s arrival | |
|---|---|
Player | Fee |
Adam Idah | £9.5m |
Odsonne Edouard | £8m |
Jota | £8m |
Christopher Jullien | £7m |
Auston Trusty | £6m |
Cameron Carter-Vickers | £6m |
However, Arne Engels joined the Scottish side later in that window from Augsburg for a fee of £11m, making him the club’s outright record signing.
A fee of up to £9.5m was still a huge commitment from Celtic, though, and they were not rewarded with performances befitting a player of that value, as he struggled as a finisher in the Premiership in the 2024/25 campaign.
Idah only scored 13 goals from 15 xG and missed 19 ‘big chances’ in the league for Brendan Rodgers, as he failed to show that he could finish chances efficiently as the team’s main number nine.
His poor form in front of goal prompted Rodgers to cash in on the Ireland international after one season, selling him to Swansea for £6m in the summer of 2025, which represented a significant loss for the club.
Celtic have found their new Adam Idah
Idah was an exciting signing at the time of his move to Parkhead because he had just scored the winning goal in the SFA Cup against Rangers at the end of his loan spell, and joined as an expensive centre-forward signing.
Dermot Desmond and the rest of the board replicated the hype that came with Idah’s arrival by committing a significant fee to the signing of another striker this summer.
Celtic swooped to sign Denmark international Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt for a fee that could rise to in excess of £11m, potentially making him the most expensive signing in the club’s history.
Journalist Michael Shearer described the move as a “huge statement of intent” from Desmond and Martin O’Neill, after the striker scored five goals in 12 games in the Champions League in the 2025/26 campaign.
Hogh was an incredibly exciting signing for the Scottish giants because he had scored 54 goals and provided 22 assists in 103 appearances for Bodo/Glimt in all competitions.
The Danish marksman, however, has yet to live up to the hype that came with his arrival at Parkhead, and his most recent performance against Rangers in the Premiership summed up his early struggles in Glasgow.
Vs Rangers | Kasper Hogh |
|---|---|
Minutes | 45 |
Shots | 0 |
Key passes | 0 |
Big chances created | 0 |
Crosses | 0 |
Dribbles | 0 |
Ground duels won | 0 |
Aerial duels won | 0 |
Fouls | 2 |
Hogh came on at half-time with his team 1-0 down at Parkhead against the Gers and managed to end the match without any duels won, shots taken, or chances created for his team.
The 25-year-old striker did show some promise early on in the season when he scored a hat-trick against Kilmarnock in the Premiership, but he has not scored a goal in any of the seven matches since then.
He has only scored in one of his nine appearances for the Scottish giants in all competitions, and his lack of intensity and mobility on and off the ball has looked like an issue so far.
Hogh has lost 72% of his ground duels in the Premiership and lost all five of his ground duels in the opening Europa League clash with Ferencvaros.
Like Idah, the £11m-rated striker has not shown the consistency in front of goal or the intensity in his general play that suggests that he has what it takes to lead the line for Celtic on a regular basis.
That is concerning, albeit it is still early in the season, because the club paid a huge sum of money for the centre-forward, and he looks more like the new Idah than the new Kyogo at this moment in time.
Source: www.footballfancast.com
