By Chris Wright
Celtic have been making some pretty shrewd waves (shrewd waves?) in this summer’s transfer market with the signings of Joe Ledley, Daryl Murphy and Efrain Juarez (from Cardiff, Sunderland and UNAM Pumas respectively), and they look to have gotten themselves yet another bargain today – in the shape of Scunthorpe United goal-machine Gary Hooper.
Hooper, who has scored over 50 Championship goals for the Iron over the past two seasons, has moved to Celtic for a fee said to be around £2.4 million and the 22-year-old forward will now go straight into the squad for their Champions League qualifying tie against Portuguese side Braga tomorrow.
After watching him systematically run Forest ragged on a couple of occasions, I’d put good money on Super Hooper being able to bag 20+ goals in the SPL if he plays regularly. A great prospect, for a fairly modest price.
Hooper will also become Celtic’s first ever ‘no. 88’, after being handed the shirt number of his choice (his date of birth) this afternoon.