'Probably time': Why ex-Celtic talisman decided leaving Parkhead was right decision

Idah ended his 18-month spell at Celtic by heading back to the English Championship with Swansea City, who paid £6 million for the striker’s services last Monday.

The Republic of Ireland internationalist scored 29 goals in 76 appearances for Celtic. He first joined the club on loan from Norwich City in January 2024 and scored the winning goal in a Scottish Cup final against Rangers. That move was made permanent for £9m last summer and while Idah was part of the double-winning squad of last season, he started this term poorly.

He failed to find the net and his final act as a Celtic player was to miss a penalty kick in the Champions League play-off shoot-out defeat by Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan last month.

Idah admitted that he was not pushing for a move away from Celtic, but once interest from Swansea became known, he had little hesitation in leaving for the Welsh club.

Idah scored a stoppage-time equaliser for Republic of Ireland on Saturday in their 2-2 draw at home to Hungary and afterwards, he spoke publicly for the first time on his decision to leave Celtic.

"It was a crazy week,” admitted Idah. “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."