Neil Adams tells Gary Hooper he has a key role to play at Norwich City next season
Gary Hooper fires in a shot against West Bromwich Albion last season. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Gary Hooper has been told he has a key role to play in returning Norwich City to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Speculation in the last 24 hours suggested Hooper had asked to leave Norwich following their top-flight relegation with Aston Villa and newly promoted Queens Park Rangers said to be interested. It was a list added to by Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
However, City boss Neil Adams has made it clear to the 26-year-old striker he has a big role to play at Carrow Road next season after a disappointing first year at the club.
'There's been no transfer request from Gary Hooper,' confirmed Adams. 'I spoke to him two days ago and told him he's one of the players we need to keep. He can score goals, Gary Hooper can. He will be a big part of the squad, along with many, many others.
'So I understand – there's bound to be this sort of speculation and rumour, and somebody can make a throwaway comment that suddenly becomes national news.
'But Gary Hooper has not handed in a transfer request and I've told him I need him here to hopefully be part of pushing this team back into the Premier League, and he was happy with that.'
Hooper scored eight times in 33 appearances and has two years left on the deal he signed for his £5.5m move from Celtic.
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Adams vowed there will be 'no stone unturned' in their search for new players as they aim to take the Championship by storm.
'There are no secrets – we aim to try to get back at the first attempt, and by doing that we've got to score goals and win games,' he added.
'I've looked at Leicester and Burnley, and I've analysed what they did last year, the amount of goals they scored and points they collected, and we have got to get back to doing that.'
