Hooper deserves England under-21 call-up

Celtic striker Gary Hooper was named in the England under-21 squad for the first time earlier this week.

This call-up was probably slightly belated considering the striker has been prolific in both the Championship and SPL for Celtic.

Hard

Gary Hooper has had to work hard for his call-up. He started off in non-league football with Grays Athletic before moving to Southend.

However it wasn’t until he moved to Scunthorpe United that Hooper’s career really started to blossom, although he enjoyed a productive spell at Hereford scoring eleven goals in 19 appearances.

At Scunthorpe he helped the club win promotion from League One to the Championship. While at the club he scored 43 goals in 80 appearances and became a cult hero amongst the fans.

His prolific scoring form convinced SPL giants Celtic to spend £2.4million on the striker and already he is looking like a bargain. He has scored 13 goals in 17 appearances in the Scottish top flight, despite spending a spell on the sidelines injured.

Doubts

Playing for Celtic is undoubtedly a step up from Scunthorpe and Championship football. English Premier League sides looked at the striker but only Blackpool were believed to be ready to sign the youngster. It seemed that other clubs were not prepared to take the risk of the striker not being able to make the step up.

Experience

He has however managed to make the step up to the Scottish top flight with ease. The Scottish top flight isn’t of the same standard of the English Premier League but it’s a good place for a young player to learn the game.

At a big club like Celtic he will experience the likes of Old Firm derbies and European football. He has already impressed against the old enemy Rangers. European nights for Celtic can also be a special experience for both fans and players.

Chance

Hooper will now have the chance to impress in games against Denmark and Iceland for the under-21’s and he is hoping for a call-up to the full national team in time. He is unsure over his chances of a call-up for the full England squad playing his football in the SPL though.

He told Sky Sports: “Can I earn a full England cap while playing in the SPL? I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it. I’m just thinking about doing well in these next few games and I’ll take it from there.”

Move

Gary Hooper’s Celtic career has only just started and I’m sure he will score many more goals in his Hoops career. If he carries on to do well at Parkhead then he is likely to attract the attention of some of the bigger clubs in England.

I’m sure he is currently happy in Glasgow but if a move to a top six club in England came along in a season or so I very much doubt that he would be able to turn it down.

Natural

Gary Hooper has that rare ability of being a natural goalscorer. He seems to find himself in the right place at the right time, an ability all top strikers have in their locker. His meteoritic rise continues and hopefully the former-Grays striker could be winning his first full cap in the near future.

It will be a hard task to get into the full England squad but the striker deserves his chance just for how far he has come in his career so far. I really like Gary Hooper as a player and I hope he achieves his dream of winning a full international cap for England.

Can Gary Hooper become a full England international?