Friday, 18th January, 2013
Celtic have rejected a bid from Norwich City for striker Gary Hooper.
The Canaries are thought to have offered Celtic a figure of around £5M for the 24-year-old goal-getter, but it has been turned down.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon is desperate to keep hold of Hooper, who has impressed at the club since he signed from Scunthorpe United in 2010.
The Scottish giants are still involved in the Champions League and are due to face Italian champions Juventus in the Round of 16.
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And Lennon, understandably, does not want to weaken his squad.
"The bid has been rejected. We had discussions with his representatives this morning and we are waiting to hear back from them", he was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"We are in a good position. We don’t want to sell, we feel we have a lot to look forward to in the second half of the season.
"We don’t want any of our top players to go and Gary comes into that bracket."
Indeed, Celtic recently strengthened their squad by snapping up highly-rated Australian midfielder Tom Rogic from A-League side Central Coast Mariners.
It remains to be seen if Norwich will return with an improved bid or whether other clubs will test Celtic’s resolve to keep hold of Hooper before the winter window closes.
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