Celtic have unearthed a number of clinical goalscorers over the years and have not found it difficult to find a reliable number nine at Parkhead.
You have the iconic Henrik Larsson and then, more recently, players like Odsonne Edouard, Moussa Dembele, Leigh Griffiths, and – currently – Kyogo Furuhashi.
The Japan international is the club's current lethal marksman and scored 27 goals in 36 Scottish Premiership matches for Ange Postecoglou throughout the 2022/23 campaign.
Who are Celtic's most expensive striker signings?
Odsonne Edouard
£8.9m
Chris Sutton
£8.2m
John Hartson
£7.8m
Alban Ajeti
£4.8m
Kyogo Furuhashi
£4.7m
The table above shows that the Hoops have been willing to splash the cash in order to find a consistent goalscorer to lead the line at Paradise.
However, it does not always take a huge, record-breaking, transfer fee to unearth a gem and Neil Lennon produced a fantastic example of that when he signed goal machine Gary Hooper in the summer of 2010.
The former Bhoys boss moved to sign the English centre-forward from the lower leagues down south and proved that there are bargains to be had in the transfer window if you know where to look.
How much was Hooper worth at Scunthorpe?
At the time of his move to Parkhead in 2010, Transfermarkt valued the lethal scorer at just €750k (£651k) after his two-year stint with Scunthorpe.
Hooper, who had scored 11 goals in 19 League Two matches for Hereford during the 2007/08 campaign, joined the Iron in the summer of 2008 and enjoyed a fantastic couple of seasons there.
They were in League One at the time of his move there and his fantastic performances throughout the 2008/09 season propelled them up to the Championship.
He racked up an outstanding 30 goals in 56 appearances for the club in all competitions, with 24 of those goals coming in 47 league outings – including two play-off matches. His phenomenal scoring rate made him a reliable option for the third-tier side and helped them to move up to a higher level.
Hooper was then able to prove that he could handle the step up to second-division football in England as he provided a consistent goal threat once again during the 2009/10 campaign.
The English ace, who started his career with Southend, scored 20 goals and provided seven assists in 39 games in all competitions for Scunthorpe, which included 19 goals and six assists in 35 Championship clashes – more than one strike every other match on average.
His goalscoring form caught Lennon's eye at Celtic and convinced the Northern Irish head coach to swoop to secure his services in 2010 as the talented gem had proven himself to be a reliable goalscorer at League One and Championship level in England.
The Hoops took a gamble on the impressive youngster in the hope that his form would be able to translate over to Scottish football and it certainly paid off for them as he went on to be a huge success at Parkhead over the subsequent few seasons.
How many goals did Hooper score for Celtic?
Hooper was a very prolific marksman for the Scottish giants as he racked up an eye-catching 82 goals in 132 appearances for the club in all competitions across three years.
He was able to hit the ground running in Scotland for Lennon with 20 goals and nine assists in 26 Scottish Premiership matches during the 2010/11 season. This shows that the talented forward was involved in more than one goal contribution every game on average, which highlights how remarkably consistent he was at the top end of the pitch.
The English whiz also scored one goal in one Champions League qualifier appearance but was unavailable for the club's loss to Utrecht as they failed to qualify for the Europa League later that summer.
Hooper followed that up with 29 goals and 11 assists in 50 matches for Celtic in all competitions throughout the 2011/12 campaign, which included 24 goals and seven assists in 37 Premiership clashes.
This means that the ex-Scunthorpe star averaged a goal contribution every 1.19 league games that term as he, once again, showcased his ability to provide a consistent threat in the final third.
The former Southend prospect then enjoyed a fantastic final season with the Hoops as he plundered 31 goals and ten assists in 51 matches in all competitions during the 2012/13 term.
He scored 19 goals and assisted eight in 32 Premiership outings and found the back of the net twice in seven Champions League appearances, with two goals against Spartak Moscow in the group stage.
How much was Hooper worth in 2013?
At the end of his final season with the Scottish giants, Transfermarkt valued Hooper at a whopping €5m (£4.3m) and this was a staggering increase of 567% on the initial €750k he was priced at in 2010.
He completed a move to Premier League side Norwich City that summer and his value did shoot up to €7m (£6m) in 2014 but has not moved above €5m since then.
Hooper, who was once dubbed "clinical" by former teammate Elliott Bennett, only scored six goals in 32 top-flight matches for the Canaries as they were relegated to the Championship and followed that up with 12 goals and six assists in 32 second-tier outings during the 2014/15 campaign.
After his spell with Norwich, he went on to play for Sheffield Wednesday, Wellington Phoenix, and Omonia Nicosia before his move to Gulf United in the U.A.E, where he currently plays.
The 35-year-old has not scored more than 13 league goals in a single season since his exit from Parkhead in 2010 after a return of at least 19 Premiership strikes one each of his three years in Scotland.
Therefore, Lennon struck gold for Celtic with the signing of Hooper as his market value soared throughout his time with the club and he proved himself to be a terrific player on the pitch with his consistent stream of goals and assists from a centre-forward position.
The decision to sell him to Norwich in 2013 also proved to be a fantastic decision by the Northern Irish boss as the English finisher failed to sustainably increase his market value or replicate his goalscoring form for the Hoops elsewhere.
