ADAM IDAH admits he realised it was time to move on from Celtic when Swansea came calling – despite having no thoughts about leaving Parkhead earlier in the window.
The Republic of Ireland striker left his boyhood team Celtic to join the English Championship side in a £6million deal.
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It was a ‘crazy’ couple of weeks for the hitman as he went from being Brendan Rodgers’ No1 striker to heading for the exit door in a matter of days.
He was at the centre of a shock transfer saga in the final days of the window as Swansea met Celtic’s demands with an offer, but Rodgers insisted he wouldn’t be going anywhere – unless he found a replacement.
But after failed swoops for Kasper Dolberg and David Datro Fofana, no replacement was found when the window closed on Monday night.
Rodgers did end up landing former player Kelechi Oheanacho on a free transfer before the Europa League squad deadline on Tuesday, though.
But in terms of Idah leaving Parkhead, it wasn’t a decision he took lightly.
A move away from Glasgow wasn’t something he imagined would happen when the summer window opened.
Discussing his Parkhead exit, Idah told the BBC: “It was a crazy week. I had no thoughts of leaving Celtic, but Swansea came in. It was a good project for me to go down to the Championship and restart.
“I loved my time at Celtic, I had some amazing memories, but it was probably time for me to move on and have a fresh start.”
Idah last night came off the bench and became the hero for Republic of Ireland as he netted a last-gasp equaliser against Hungary.
He repaid the faith manager Heimir Hallgrímsson put in him despite his state of flux.
He pounced with a header in the third minute of stoppage time in Dublin to ensure his national team grabbed a crucial point to open their World Cup qualifying campaign.
And on his big moment, Idah said: “It’s a bit of a strange one, mixed emotions. It’s obviously great to score for Ireland and to get such an important goal but at the same time, I want to win the game, regardless if I score or not.
“We just want to win the game, so it was a bit of a strange one. I think we have come a long way. In previous camps a couple of years ago, if we go 2-0 down that early on it’s a whole different story trying to get back.
“I think that shows the experience we’ve got now and the belief got in the group. It was a tough first half, but to come back from 2-0 down against a top team like that, it’s really good.”
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