Celtic striker Anthony Stokes has implored his goalscoring mate Gary Hooper to remain at the club.
The 23-year old has been the subject of some desperate bidding by Championship league leaders Southampton in the past week or so and could be tempted by their offer to treble his wages but Stokes hopes he stays at Parkhead as the Hoops look to end Old Firm rivals Rangers' Premiership domination of the past three seasons.
"You look at how well he has done since he came here. He has been outstanding.
"He scored at Scunthorpe, he has come here and scored goals for fun and I think he would score goals at any level.
"He's a top class player and I play reasonably well when we play together so I just hope he stays and fingers crossed that we can.
"I can't talk about what the club are going to do but from a personal point of view I would like to think they will do everything they can to hold onto him and I'm sure they will.
"He hasn't said anything to me about it but I get the impression that he is happy here, he is enjoying football.
"All I know he is a top class player, he is very young and he is only going to get better.""It is massive (if the stays)," said Stokes.
