Michael Noonan is heading to Nottingham Forest in January, and the people who know him best think it's a decent move with a very difficult ceiling to crack.
The 18-year-old Republic of Ireland Under-21 striker will join Forest on a free transfer when his Shamrock Rovers contract expires, ending a chase that reportedly involved Ajax and Hoffenheim at various points this summer. Forest won the race. Rovers, in the process, lose a player they were quietly hoping might fetch a low seven-figure fee.
"Will he go into the Forest first team? No, of course not"
Keith Treacy, who coached Noonan in the St Patrick's Athletic youth setup, put it plainly on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast. He called it "a good move" but didn't dress up what's waiting for the teenager on the other side of the Irish Sea.
"Nottingham Forest is a brilliant place to play football," Treacy said. "But will he go into the Nottingham Forest first team? No, of course not. The hard work would start when he gets over there."
That's not pessimism — that's the reality of a club that has spent freely since returning to the Premier League and can buy a replacement at any position without blinking. Forest's squad depth isn't a compliment to Noonan's prospects; it's a wall he'll need to scale over years, not months. Manager turnover adds another layer of uncertainty. Treacy flagged owner Evangelos Marinakis's track record of cycling through coaches — Postecoglou and Dyche both name-checked — and what that instability means for a young player trying to build relationships with a coaching staff.
Shamrock Rovers feel the financial sting
Former Rovers midfielder Paul Corry was candid about the business reality. After the fees the club received for Victor Ozhianvuna and Mason Melia in the past 18 months, a training compensation cheque for Noonan stings.
"I'm sure they would have been thinking they would have got a high six figure, maybe a low seven figure fee for Michael," Corry said. "It feels like a bit of a dropped ball."
On Noonan himself, Corry's assessment was measured rather than glowing: brilliant eye for goal, strong running power, willing to stretch in behind — but also "a little bit scruffy with the ball at his feet" at times, with real development still needed. Forest, in theory, is the environment to provide it. Whether the pathway actually exists there is another question entirely.
Treacy's closing advice was direct: "bite down on the gumshield and prove his worth." For a player arriving on a free in January at a club in the middle of a Premier League season, that's exactly the brief.
