Celtic are desperate for goals, and there weren’t many better at finding the back of the net than Gary Hooper.
According to our fans on TalkingPoints though, more of you think that this current team needs Virgil van Dijk more than Hooper.
While the votes can’t be denied, I am on hand to prove to you why a prime Hooper would be more beneficial than Van Dijk.
How many goals would a prime Gary Hooper score in this current Celtic side?
Gary Hooper celebrates his goal for Celtic against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League
Credit: Getty Images/Stu Forster
Why a prime Gary Hooper is what this Celtic side need right now
He is a proven goalscorer
If you look at Celtic’s current striking options, none of them have set the world alight in the goalscoring charts.
Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu and Kelechi Iheanacho have all had short spells of success at previous teams, but not as consistently as Hooper.
Neil Lennon knew he wanted to sign Hooper after 10 minutes of watching him because of his all-round game, but his razor-sharp instinct in front of goal made him a no-brainer.
Every time the forward was through on goal, you knew he would score. You don’t get that feeling with the current options.
Gary Hooper of Celtic celebrates after scoring his fourth goal during the Clydesdale Bank Premier League match between Celtic and Hearts
Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
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The service he would get from his wingers
A typical theme with Celtic’s wingers is that they like to get to the byline before crossing the ball into the box.
Throughout his Celtic career, Hooper was always in the box, waiting to strike with a poacher’s instinct.
Daizen Maeda, Sebastian Tounekti, Hyunjun Yang and all of the others regularly take on their full-back before drilling the ball low and hard into the box, where the forward will almost certainly be. Goals, goals, goals.
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Celtic don’t need clean sheets, they need goals
Celtic’s lack of firepower is obvious when you see the difference in the number of goals scored by the Hoops this season compared to the last.
At the same stage of the 2024/25 campaign, the Bhoys had found the back of the net 76 times. However, this season, they have only managed 48 goals.
That’s a huge drop-off and just more proof that a goalscorer is needed more than a brute enforcer at the back.
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