Celtic hero backs Adam Idah to grab striker’s jersey | OneFootball

Celtic legend has backed Adam Idah to make number nine jersey his own..

Adam Idah celebrates. Aberdeen 1-5 Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Frank McAvennie has thrown his support behind Adam Idah ahead of the new season kicking off, amidst all the transfer rumblings about Brendan Rodgers signing another new striker this summer. With the Irishman promising that there would be change this year, he has been true to his word with several departures already with more expected imminently.

Many are intrigued at the prospect of what Rodgers might be doing with the squad this time out, with the debate about another striker being a major talking point amongst the support.

The boss himself has previosuly commented on that particular aspect, claiming it would be easier for a club like ours to procure top-drawer wingers, as opposed to the centre-forward position.

Adam Idah celebrates. Aberdeen 1-5 Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

The club have been linked with many wide attacking additions so far, and with Nicolas Kühn on the verge of sealing his highly-coveted move away from Paradise to Serie A with Como, the wide forward areas are of prescient concern.

That doesn’t mean though that the market might not throw up an opportunity too good to turn down, with Celtic earlier today supposedly ramping up interest in Napoli’s young striker, Giuseppe Ambrosino.

That’s all just rumour at this moment in time and as it stands we have Adam Idah, Daizen Maeda, Johnny Kenny and Callum Osmand on the books for that number nine role, although it remains to be seen if Rodgers wants to move Daizen back out wide moving forward.

Adam Idah of Celtic celebrates scoring to give Celtic a 2-1 lead. Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership, 10 May 2025 Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

Both he and Adam Idah were in fine goalscoring form last campaign and for Idah, his 20 goal haul looks even more impressive considering the minutes he had.

Centenary Double-winner McAvennie reckons that the Celtic boss need look no further than Cork native Idah for this coming season, claiming the big man just needs to be a bit more aggressive and confident, but that he has all the tools necessary to be the main man at Celtic Park. “I’m looking for Adam to step up this year,” he said to Record Sport. “He didn’t have a pre-season last year. I know by playing the game that you are always on the back foot if you don’t have a pre-season. He’s young, he’s learning and I think he’s got the capabilities to be a top, top striker. I really do. He’s got everything in his locker. He’s just got to use it.

Adam Idah celebrates. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“I’d like to see him holding the ball a bit more. When you’re playing in European ties, you’ve got to hold and fight for the ball. He’ll learn that, that’s what he’s got to do. If I were playing in his team, he’d have learnt a long time ago because I’d have been screaming at him.

“Nobody talks to each other now. Big Roy Aitken was my captain, he’d have cupped me by the throat if the ball kept bouncing off me. That’s the way to learn. Someone like Callum McGregor’s got to keep talking to him. But I really do think he’s going to nail down and become the number one striker. We’ve just got to mould him into that number one slot.”

When Kyogo Furuhashi left for pastures new in the January transfer window, it was his countryman Maeda who grabbed the bull by the horns and filled that void magnificently, prompting suggestions he could be moved there permanently by Brendan Rodgers.

However, McAvennie is adamant that Adam can be that guy for the team and club, but that he needs to be more assertive and bullish to accomplish his true potential. “You think of how many games they played Daizen through the middle,” he continued. “He did well, his movement was great. But I’d like to see Adam stand up and say, ‘This number nine jersey is mine.’ You don’t get it for coming on and scoring goals. You get it by fighting and wanting to keep that jersey and not wanting to be dropped.

“I’d like to see him do it. I’m all for him. Daizen can take the number nine jersey as well if he gets injured. They’ve got a couple of youngsters there as well. Do we need a striker? I’m not sure we need to buy one. I think we’ve got enough in our dressing room.

“We lost young boys like Daniel Cummings and Rocco Vata. Rudi’s boy is now an Irish international, it’s just incredible. I don’t think we need to bring a striker in, we’ve got to build on what we’ve got. I think Brendan’s shown a lot of faith in Adam. He knows the supporters know he can do more. Everyone to a man knows he’s a good player, but I just think he’s got to do a bit more and I think he’ll nail that position down this year.”

Adam Idah celebrates scoring at Ibrox to level the score at 1-1. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

The former West Ham United striker also confirmed that the initial outlay for Idah has been a weight around his neck, just like teammate Arne Engels.

He added: “Of course it has. It’s the same with Arne Engels. He was the best thing since sliced bread in the first six games. Then all of a sudden, people start getting used to him. But he’s only a young boy as well. You can see he’s got quality, he’s just got to do it.

“Unfortunately, at Celtic, you don’t have the chance to have one week on, one week off. There are no other clubs in the world like Celtic and (the)Rangers.”

Paul Gillespie