Forest’s attempts to strengthen their academy set up look to be continuing with the reported signing of Michael Noonan, and the Irish U21 international arrives with probably the highest reputation of all of Forest’s recent additions so far.
Having spent time at Crumlin United - a Dublin side that Forest had an official partnership with back in the late 2,000s - Noonan made his senior debut for St. Pat’s Athletic back in February 2024 aged just 15 and 187 days.
He’d make just the 1 appearance in the League of Ireland, before moving to Shamrock Rovers the following January, despite reported interest from Manchester City and St. Pat’s’ attempts to keep him. Soon after, he’d become the youngest scorer in the history of the Europa Conference League, with a winning goal against Molde in a knockout tie, aged just 16 years and 197 days old.
Since joining Shamrock Rovers - his boyhood club - he’s played 81 senior games for them, scoring 16 times. Earlier this year he was linked with a move to Hoffenheim, with a fee of around €1.8m agreed. This deal fell through though with Noonan reportedly hesitant to move to Germany.
He was linked with other teams including Ajax, Benfica & Chelsea, before Forest’s name was thrown in the frame back in June. According to John Percy, the, Forest have reportedly won the battle to sign him and will pay a training compensation fee to the Irish side.
International & Professional Experience At A Young Age
Although the level of competition is far lower than English football, and probably the PL2 as well, for a player of Noonan’s age it’s a huge positive that he already has so much experience in senior football - including 17 European appearances.
Noonan also has significant experience with the Republic of Ireland’s youth sides, and was a big part of their team that reached the Quarter Finals of last year’s U17 World Cup - scoring 3 goals, alongside one of Forest’s most recent academy signings, Grady McDonnell.