Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday were left with Celtic FC transfer envy | OneFootball

Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday were both left envious of how well Gary Hooper performed for Celtic

Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday have both endured varying degrees of success in the transfer market over the years.

For instance, Norwich will never forget the goalscoring services of their former striker Teemu Pukki, who fired them to the Championship title in both 2019 and 2021.

Meanwhile, Wednesday hit the jackpot when they acquired midfielder Barry Bannan from Crystal Palace in 2015, as the former Scotland international went on to give them 10-and-a-half years of exemplary service.

Bannan's eventual Owls exit in January 2026 came as a consequence of the fact that the South Yorkshire outfit entered administration, thanks to the financial mismanagement overseen by former owner Dejphon Chansiri.

Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City were left jealous of Gary Hooper's Celtic success

In contrast to the successful deals that Norwich and Wednesday struck for Pukki and Bannan, respectively, neither the Carrrow Road club nor the Hillsborough side saw the best of Gary Hooper.

The striker previously played for Scunthorpe United from 2008-2010, notching 48 goals in 89 appearances across all competitions, which convinced Celtic to snap up his services.

Hooper notched 19 goals and five assists in the 2009/10 Championship season for the Lincolnshire outfit, but his finest exploits were still yet to come.

The former Southend United man went on to win two Scottish Premiership titles and two Scottish Cups with Celtic, and played an integral role towards those triumphs.

Hooper was quick to hit the ground running for the Glaswegian giants, as he scored on debut in a Champions League third round qualifier against Portuguese outfit Braga.

He left the Bhoys to join Norwich in the summer of 2013 with an impressive record of 82 goals in 138 appearances for the Scottish outfit.

As reported by BBC Sport, the Canaries, then of the Premier League, paid £5million to sign Hooper, who said: "I'm pleased to have finally put pen to paper and joined Norwich. I knew Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood from my youth days at Spurs, so it will be great to be back working with them.

"I have scored goals at every level I have played at and the challenge of playing in the Premier League is really exciting to me."

However, in his first season with the Canaries, the striker scored just six goals in 32 top-flight appearances, which contributed to the fact that they were relegated, finishing three points adrift of 17th-place West Bromwich Albion.

Hooper did fare better for the Norfolk outfit in the Championship, notching 12 goals in 32 second-tier outings, which helped them seal an immediate Premier League return via the play-offs.

The former Celtic hotshot missed the first couple of months of the 2014/15 season, courtesy of a calf injury, but scored his first second-tier goal for Norwich in a 3-3 draw with Brighton in October 2014.

Two of Hooper's best Canaries performances arrived that campaign, as he went on to score a brace in Boxing Day 6-1 triumph over Millwall, and a hat-trick in a February victory over Blackpool.

However, after making their Premier League return, the Carrow Road side allowed the forward to join Wednesday on loan in October 2015, before the Owls signed him permanently the following January.

Hooper was nowhere near as prolific for Norwich as he was for Celtic, but when the South Yorkshire club signed the striker permanently, then boss Carlos Carvalhal wanted the forward to help his side's promotion push, as reported by the Sheffield Star.

The forward notched 13 goals and five assists for Wednesday in the 2015/16 Championship season, but Carvalhal's men were beaten 1-0 by Hull City in the play-off final.

He enjoyed a less successful 2016/17 second-tier season, scoring six goals and producing three assists in 23 outings, but the Owls did enough to secure a top-six spot once again.

That time around, the Owls were beaten by Yorkshire rivals and eventual promotion winners Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals.

Hooper left Hillsborough in 2019, having scored 31 goals in 89 appearances for Wednesday, meaning that it was still Celtic who had seen the best of him.

The Owls faithful will fondly remember the brace he scored against Leeds United in January 2016, but he ultimately failed to help deliver the promotion that Carvalhal wanted to achieve.

Gary Hooper has enjoyed a unique career since leaving Sheffield Wednesday

Hooper's first club after leaving Hillsborough was the New Zealand-based outfit Wellington Phoenix, where he stayed for three years, also enduring a loan stint with Indian club Kerala Blasters in 2020/21.

He went on to play for Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus in the 2022/23 season, before embarking on a non-league career in the English game, which has seen the striker turn out for Barnet, Kettering Town, and Maldon and Tiptree.