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Celtic complete signing of Hooper

Gary Hooper scored 43 goals in 80 league games for Scunthorpe © Getty Images

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Celtic have confirmed the signing of Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper, who joins the SPL side for a reported fee of £2.4 million.

Hooper arrived in Glasgow on Monday to undergo a medical and the transfer has now been finalised. The 22-year-old will be named in Celtic's squad for their Champions League qualifier against Braga on Wednesday.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon said: "He will be coming [to join the squad] later on. There is just a little bit of paperwork we had to smooth over. I don't know about playing but he will be in the squad. I was pleased to get him, he has been on our radar for quite a while.

"I think we have a good player on our hands, his record is very good. It's not just goals, he can play a little bit as well and there were a lot of clubs after his signature."

Hooper, who began his career with non-league Grays Athletic, joined Scunthorpe from Southend in a £175,000 deal in July 2008 and scored 43 goals in 80 league games for the Iron.

"I'm a little bit nervous, it's the first time I've travelled abroad for a game," Hooper said. "But I am looking forward to it and ready to meet my team-mates.

"Celtic is a massive club and when I knew they were interested they were the only club I wanted to come to. I signed yesterday [Monday] and had a medical last night which finished about eight o'clock. I had to sign a few papers this morning and fax them but that's it done.''

His arrival could hasten the departure of Georgios Samaras as promoted Spanish side Hercules have confirmed they are still interested in signing the Greece international.

Hercules sports director Paquito told The Scotsman: "We are still looking for attacking players. We still want Samaras, but he has other options too. All I can say is that we hope in the next two or three days, our supporters could have some pleasant surprises."

Hooper is Celtic's sixth summer signing following Charlie Mulgrew Cha Du-Ri, Joe Ledley, Daryl Murphy and Efrain Juarez.

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