Celtic reject second Hooper bid

22 January 2013 19:47

Celtic striker Gary Hooper has rejected a contract offer but manager Neil Lennon remains confident he will still be at Parkhead on February 1 after rejecting a second bid from Norwich.

Lennon revealed the contract offer had been on the table since October, while the bid from Norwich was slightly improved on one submitted late last week.

Lennon told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound programme: "We have had an improved offer, if you want to call it an improved offer, from Norwich that's been turned down automatically."

Lennon did not want to go into details about Norwich's offer but said it was not much more than the original figure.

When asked if it was £6million, Lennon said: "It was nowhere near six million. It was completely rejected and even if it was six million it would be completely rejected."

Lennon claimed little had changed with the situation of the striker, who has 18 months left on his deal.

When asked about reports that Hooper had rejected the club's latest offer, Lennon said: "It's not the latest offer because we made it two or three months ago.

"I'm disappointed again that these things have come out in public. I'm not too sure where they are coming from but it's certainly not us. It's as you were. He didn't like the look of the contract two or three months ago and nothing has changed.

"We feel it's a very good offer. It would put him in the top two or three highest-paid players at the club. I'm sure he wants to be the highest paid but you can't always get what you want."

Source: PA