Norwich City have held Celtic nerve and are set to enjoy the reward: View | OneFootball

Norwich City have gained a lot with their negotiating tactics against Celtic

Norwich City have held their nerve and are set to earn close to eight figures for the sale of Adam Idah to Celtic.

According to Sky Sports, the fee is an initial £8.5 million and could potentially rise as high as £9.5 million depending on add-ons being hit.

Idah spent the second half of last season on loan with the Scottish side and helped them earn a domestic league and cup double.

It was no surprise that the Premiership team would want to keep him beyond that initial six-month stint given how important his goals proved to be for Brendan Rodgers’ side last year.

But Norwich had a strong negotiating position, with Idah having a contract with the Canaries until the summer of 2028.

Their response to this permanent transfer interest has been excellent and a template to follow for future reference.

Celtic’s initial low-balling

Norwich received a £4 million bid from Celtic earlier in the summer, according to the Irish Examiner, which was ultimately well below the player’s market value.

Idah scored eight goals in 15 appearances in the Premiership last season, so the Norfolk outfit gambled that someone that important must be worth more to Celtic (all stats from Fbref).

That gamble has paid off extremely well, as they are now set to more than double the fee they’ll receive from the Glasgow club instead.

Johannes Hoff Thorup also played his role in this negotiating process, insisting multiple times that the forward had a role to play in his team this season.

While game time under David Wagner had been limited, there was reason to believe the Dane could give him an opportunity to impress at Carrow Road.

The 23-year-old did start the opening game of the new Championship campaign on the bench, but this could easily have just been down to the speculation over his future.

There is every chance that Thorup was being totally honest when he said that he wanted a look at Idah during his unveiling press conference back in June.

“Yep. I definitely want to assess him,” said the Norwich boss, via Pink Un on Twitter.

“He’s an exciting player and he’s from here.

“He can do dangerous things up front.

“I will definitely have a look at him.”

Adam Idah lessons for Jonathan Rowe

Norwich don’t have quite as strong a negotiating position when it comes to the speculation over Jonathan Rowe.

Rowe is a target for Leeds United, who are still in the race to sign him this summer despite Marseille pulling out, according to L’Equipe.

The winger’s contract expires in 2025, with the option for a further year, so there isn’t an immediate pressure to sell now but his value may decrease going into the final year of his deal.

But Norwich have now shown Leeds that they won’t budge even as the transfer window comes into its final weeks.

Football Insider have reported that the Whites made a verbal offer worth £7 million, but that the Canaries are looking for something closer to £15 million.

Given how talks over Idah went, it would now be very surprising if Norwich don’t get their £15 million if the forward does depart – not least given the cash they'll have raised from player sales already this summer.

This Celtic deal is a real coup for the new sporting director Ben Knapper, and this is money that can now be reinvested back into improving Thorup’s side before 30 August, while also potentially making it easier to hold onto Rowe.