The Celtic manager Neil Lennon has said that he wants the star striker Gary Hooper to commit his future to the Scottish club despite interest from several clubs across England. The player has only 18 months left on his current deal and he came extremely close to joining Norwich city in the January transfer window. Celtic rejected up to 4 bids from the Premier league club, while the likes of Tottenham are also reported to be monitoring the situation. The Celtic manager Neil Lennon has confirmed that the club has given a new contract to the player, but he is yet to sign it.
Celtic are aware of the fact that Hooper’s transfer value will be substantially less in the summer due to the fact that he will have only 12 months remaining on his contract. Lennon has said that the player still has a lot to offer for Celtic before moving onto pastures new. The former Scunthorpe United striker has been one of the important players for Celtic this season. Lennon refused to sell the player in January partly because of the lack of time to bring in a replacement. Further, they will be having important matches against the likes of Juventus in the coming months.
“I will need to speak to Peter Lawwell about it but the contract is still there. My advice to Gary would be to sign it. Whether he wanted to go now or in the summer. If the money is there in front of you from Celtic then take it. We had a chat with Gary in Marbella and he said: ‘Look, I want to stay’. We will look at his position in the summer. I don’t want to stop his progression, but we feel he has still got a lot to offer here before he moves on,” said Lennon.