Former Rochdale forward agrees short term contract
Carlisle United have today signed former-Rochdale youth product James Hooper on a short-term loan deal which keeps him at the club until the end of the current season.Hooper, 20, scored 23 goals and was named the ‘Dale youth player of the 2014/15 season as his exploits made him the club’s young player of the year and earned him a professional contract.
He enjoyed loan spells with FC United of Manchester and Stockport during his time at Spotland and was made a free agent by the League One outfit during the January transfer window.
He has been with the Cumbrians for an extended trial spell and has integrated well with the squad during his three-week stay.
Joint assitant manager Lee Dykes said: "James is a forward we’ve been looking at for quite some time now. We’ve had him in training for a couple of weeks.
"He made a couple of appearances for Rochdale in recent times and he’s got ability. He’s somebody who needs to settle in an area - hopefully Carlisle - and get a good foundation of people around him so he can get his abilities on the football pitch out.
"That’s hopefully what Carlisle United will see from him from now until the end of the season."
"We were close to signing a third player," he revealed. "He was another we’ve looked at before. He’s a forward thinking player who we feel could potentially have an impact when games are tight and offer us a different kind of skillset to what we’ve got in the building already.
"We won't name him at this stage because you never know where that one will go."
Hooper will wear shirt number 26.
