Looks as if Hoops could join Bailey in a ex-Shrimpers Boro double
22-year-old striker Gary Hooper is rated at around £2m and it looks as if Middlesbrough have won the race for him to leave his present club, fellow Championship side Scunthorpe United.
And if that happens, Uncle Ron, sorry I mean Southend, would pick up around £350,000 due to a sell-on clause in his contract when the 22-year old former Grays hitman signed for the Irons a couple of years ago for £175,000 in the summer of 2008.
Which is not bad as we got less than 200k for Lee Barnard, and look like accepting 150k for Simon Francis, while Macca and Captain Adam might go for even less to save on wages. As for the Moose and Scannell possibily leaving for nothing! It's DFS time at Roots Hall!
Hooper has scored 50 goals in 95 appearances for the Irons, smashing in 30 when they gained promotion through the League One play-offs last season, and 20 more in the Championship when he was playing in a struggling side.
It's no wonder several sides, including Celtic who looked odds on favourites to land Hoops a month ago, have all been sniffing around the player that only scored 4 times in 44 games in his time at Roots Hall, most of those coming on as a sub, though I was at Bournemouth he scored one of those in a 4-1 win, and for one game showed what he could have done for us. Gary was very good that day.
This adds to the news Monday that everyone's favourite ginger, Nicky 'this is my dream move' Bailey, may join Hooper in a possible Boro double, then over a half a million windfall could be heading down the Arterial.
Even so, don't expect most of it to head towards Tilly's rebuilding budget, but at least any poor sod who does sign on for our promised promotion push should get paid!
The Hooper Files
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gary Hooper | ||
| Date of birth | 26 January 1988 (1988-01-26) | ||
| Place of birth | Loughton, England | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Scunthorpe United | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004-2006 | Grays Athletic | 69 | (20) |
| 2006-2008 | Southend United | 32 | (2) |
| 2007 | → Leyton Orient (loan) | 4 | (2) |
| 2008 | → Hereford United (loan) | 19 | (11) |
| 2008- | Scunthorpe United | 80 | (43) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:01, 18 May 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
(Player information supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Hooper)