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Shamrock Rovers' Michael Noonan celebrates after scoring his side's second goal at Club Orange Mens FAI Cup Third Round, Richmond Park, Dublin 16/8/2026, St. Patricks Athletic vs Shamrock Rovers.
From The 42On the Move
Nottingham Forest land Shamrock Rovers striker Michael Noonan on free transfer
It’s understood that the 18-year-old will have a medical with the Premier League club on Wednesday.
MICHAEL NOONAN IS set to join Nottingham Forest on a free transfer from Shamrock Rovers in January.
As first reported by the Daily Telegraph, the 18-year-old has opted for the Premier League club after turning 18 earlier this summer.
The Republic of Ireland underage international became the youngest scorer in the history of Uefa Conference League when he found the net against Molde aged 16 years and 197 days.
Noonan will have a medical on Wednesday and Rovers are only set to receive basic training compensation in the low six figures. It’s understood they were still hopeful of securing a deal in the region of €750,000 during earlier negotiations.
The 42 reported in June how Noonan was close to joining Ajax but he has decided against a move to the Dutch giants having also turned down a €1.8 million transfer to Bundesliga club Hoffenheim in February.
It also subsequently emerged that Rovers self-reported to Fifa a potential breach of third-party ownership rules relating to Noonan’s contract, along with that of goalkeeper Alex Noonan (no relation) who joined Ipswich Town on loan earlier this month before his move becomes permanent.
The Sunday Times revealed at the weekend that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) opened an investigation into those allegations of third-party ownership at Rovers.
FAI director of football John Martin was the League of Ireland club’s chief executive when Noonan joined Rovers from St Patrick’s Athletic.
Part of the FAI’s investigation centres on if a percentage of any transfer fee for the two players was due to the players’ agent, David Moss.
Moss has already stated that he complied with “all legal and regulatory requirements”, and said he acted in the player’s interest while Martin also stated that “any agreements I made were always made in the best interest of the football club. No other way of looking at it. When I was there, I gave everything I had to the job. I gave my life to the job. I think anyone who’s close to me will know that. I did what I thought was in the best interest of the club, which was to sign good players.”
Written by David Sneyd and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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