Celtic ‘ahead’ of Man City in race to sign record-breaking striker
Celtic hold an advantage on Man United and Man City in the race to sign Shamrock Rovers starlet Michael Noonan ahead of January.
Celtic‘s striker situation has created real unrest around the club throughout this season, with many fans angry at the board for failing to bolster their options properly in that position.
There were demands for numerous new forwards to be signed over the summer, but they instead sold Adam Idah to Swansea City and struggled to replace him until Kelechi Iheanacho arrived on a free transfer after the window had closed.
Iheanacho suffered an injury early on in his Hoops career, while the likes of Johnny Kenny, Shin Yamada and Callum Osmand have shown some promise but all look too inexperienced to fire the club to more success this season.
Celtic have been linked to Wessam Abou Ali as Wilfried Nancy gets ready to take over as boss next week, but it could be another striker a little more close to home in Michael Noonan who is snapped up in the new year instead.
Celtic an ‘attractive’ option to Michael Noonan after interest from Manchester sides
17-year-old Noonan is one of the most highly-rated talents in Irish football, and he became the youngest ever scorer in the Conference League in February when he scored the winner for Shamrock Rovers against Molde.
He scored nine goals in 44 appearances for Rovers last season, and the Irish Sun have now reported that Celtic are “optimistic” that they will be able to fend off strong competition to sign Noonan soon.
The Republic of Ireland youth international was previously believed to be close to signing for Man City [Fabrizio Romano] and they are still interested in him, while the Daily Mail recently revealed that he is being closely tracked by rivals United.
Celtic, though, are an “attractive” option to the 17-year-old, and so they may soon sign him in January and loan him back to Rovers before he can officially join when he turns 18 next summer.
They also hold a certain advantage in the race due to the close links between the two clubs, with Celtic’s largest shareholder Dermot Desmond also holding a 25% stake in Rovers.
Celtic must back Wilfried Nancy in January
The potential signing of Noonan will not be one that necessarily excites Celtic fans too much right now, but it at least would highlight that they can compete for young talents with some of the world’s biggest clubs.
He would be one for the not-too-distant future, but the Hoops desperately need players that are ready in the present day to help fire them to another Premiership title under incoming boss Nancy.
Football Insider revealed last week that Nancy is likely to utilise the MLS market as Celtic boss, with Columbus Crew attacker Diego Rossi previously linked to the Hoops.
Neither he nor teammate Abou Ali are set to come cheap in January though, with Football Insider’s sources recent revealing that the Celtic board know they must back Nancy, and an exciting forward signing has to be on the agenda as soon as possible.