QPR target was £1m - now he will cost Hoops £5m please log in to view this image Gary Hooper has been close to a QPR move three times in five seasons - but now the club face a battle to finally capture the Norwich City forward. Hoops were first knocked back with a £1m bid at the beginning of 2009-10 when the striker was at lowly Scunthorpe. Then Essex-born Hooper, incredibly a Southend League Two reject just five years ago, could have moved to Rangers in January 2013, but boss Harry Redknapp was chasing Loic Remy. Last summer, Hooper was reluctant to leave Premier League Norwich for life in the Championship with Rs. Now, with Remy expected to trigger a £10m release clause and move to Arsenal after the World Cup, and Andy Johnson expected to be released, interest in Hooper has been rekindled. However, Crystal Palace and Swansea are reported suitors for a player reluctant to stay with Canaries after their relegation from the top tier. City are reluctant to sell a player with two years left to run on his contract, and will demand the £5m they paid Celtic for him last summer. http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/qpr-target-1m---now-7226612
If he was subject to Norwich's £20k wage cap, at least his expectations on that side should be reasonable. I have no idea if he would be a good buy or not.
Norwich won't recoup their obey on Hooper, he simply hasn't performed anything like a striker of that value, even allowing for the poor service and limited opportunities last year. Not sure he's the right sort, but if Harry feels he is then £3m tops and similar wages to what he was on at his current club, otherwise let someone else have him.
8 goals in a relegated team, not bad, not all that good either, but we need a couple of options and backup for Charlie. So a worthwhile recruit.
6 goals in 22 Premiership starts (+ 10 off the subs bench) Scored against West Ham, West Brom, Palace, Swansea, Fulham and Liverpool. Scored only once since Boxing Day 2013 (in 19 appearances) 2 goals in 1 league cup start (+ 1 as sub) (brace against Watford)
Most seemed to be keen on signing him when were competing with Norwich. I would still say yes, at the right price.
Fox in the box type. Would score plenty with the right service and could be a good partner for Charlie.
If 'proven premiership scorer' is what we are after, here's a list of last seasons top marksmen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/top-scorers Only Crouchy is a semi realistic recruit on that list, IMO, so perhaps Hooper is the best we could get. Prefer to look elsewhere - like the Ajax lad, or a championship scorer - myself. Silly me, one on the list is ours already......
Hooper is a second striker, there isn't too much use for them at the top level and yes not enough to play for a top team that will play 2 up front. He's too good for the champ but not good enough to play for a top team that might play 2 up front or play the lone man role in a bottom half team.
And to think that three of them used to be on our books. (One still is - Remy.) Crouch and Sterling the other two.
