He was the £9 million man due to step in for Kyogo when he left but it’s not really happened for him.
Adam Idah was able to get himself on to the video footage of the goals.
But, given the way Daizen Maeda has effortlessly stepped into Kyogo Furuhashi’s main marksman role, it wasn’t any shock the big-stage Japanese star again took up most of the screen time.
The national stadium was one of Kyogo’s favourite playgrounds and it’s the same now for magical Maeda.
On top of four Hampden goals against Aberdeen and Rangers and a trophy-clinching shootout spot-kick in the Premier Sports Cup Final,, the on-fire attacker put another couple to his burgeoning tally at the expense of St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup.
Maeda’s impressive total for the campaign now stands at 33 as he rampages to the various Player of the Year awards.
Idah won’t be challenging for those honours, yet his moment in this semi-final would have felt pretty special in its own right.
He was the £9 million man due to step in for Kyogo when he left, but it’s not really happened for him.
Yet, given events in the game’s build-up, Idah would have savoured getting some spotlight with, on this occasion, no telephone explanations to manager Brendan Rodgers needed.
The Irish striker could have done without a video emerging on social media of him looking worse for wear during a night out.
But it was Saints left feeling a bit queasy and as he added to their Hampden hangover.
Of course, for all the headline makers at the top end of the pitch, it’s Callum McGregor in the engine-room who is usually at the root of all his team’s good.
Once again, the skipper broke the deadlock to set up a four-goal blitz towards half-time.
After a blank half an hour, McGregor stylishly made the breakthrough before creating Maeda’s first and, with those two cameos, a final place was virtually bagged.
Jota, who clinched a Scottish Cup with the last kick of his first spell at Celtic, appeared from the bench to get in on the act after the interval and it was a thumping way for Rodgers to maintain his impeccable Hampden record.
The Hoops boss has been in charge for 14 cup ties at the venue since 2016 and never lost.
If he makes it 15 by seeing-off Aberdeen at the end of next month, it could be a dozen trophies with another Premiership set to be tied up as soon as Saturday.
An astounding six Trebles in nine seasons is within touching distance, while it’s now just about top-flight survival for Saints.
Boss Simo Valakri believed his team could repeat their league win from a fortnight ago, but they were steamrollered.
They hung in there for that opening half-an-hour, compact and restricting Celtic to long-range strikes from McGregor, James Forrest, Reo Hatate and Arne Engels.
Then an attempt to play it out from the back was seized upon and they were heavily punished. Barry Douglas tried to pick a pass into midfield from a goal-kick, but his thoughts were read by Alistair Johnston who stole possession.
Hatate teed up McGregor, who took a couple of touches to steady himself before hitting a delightful finish with his instep low into the bottom corner.
Then he turned provider as his pass inside the backtracking Sam Curtis should really have been cut out.
But the Saints ace didn’t manage, Maeda was onto it and the outcome was inevitable as he beat keeper Andy Fisher by stroking the ball into the corner.
Valakari’s team were in a daze and the blows kept coming as Idah knocked home a third. Liam Scales’ pass into the left channel of the box found Hatate scampering into the area and he took his time before picking his centre into Idah.
The hardest part of the Irishman was getting there. The finish was simple and, in the context, this was a big goal for the striker.
Half-time couldn’t come quickly enough for Saints, but it didn’t come fast enough to prevent Maeda’s second making it 4-0 at the break.
Again Hatate weaved his way into the danger area before stabbing a pass into the possession of his compatriot who clinically drove home.
It was over as a contest but Saints, to their credit, kept battling after the restart with sub Makenzie Kirk twice denied a wonder goal.
First, a back flick which was knocked over Viljami Sinisalo and, while the attacker’s next effort from 25 yards was a special strike into the top corner, that also didn’t count as referee Calum Scott was called by VAR to look at a nudge in the back from defender Daniels Balodis on Idah in build-up.
It was a stunning effort and felt almost cruel on the sub to have it ruled out, yet Scott wasn’t done with VAR.
He was back at the screen having awarded Rodgers’ team a penalty when Forrest went down in the box, but the whistler decided he had got it wrong after having a look at the monitor.
Forrest could have taken it to score for a 16th successive season. Idah had the ball in hand looking for his second. In the end, neither got the chance and both immediately came off.
Jota was one of the replacements and he was on the scoresheet almost instantly when stealing into the back post to guide home a deep Johnston cross to seal the deal.
