{"id":315055,"date":"2026-02-01T14:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T14:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/315055\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T14:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T14:42:10","slug":"michael-noonan-race-takes-new-twist-after-hoffenheim-bids-for-celtic-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/315055\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Noonan race takes new twist after Hoffenheim bids for Celtic target"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The race for Michael Noonan has taken yet another twist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The teenage Irish striker is hot property, with a host of clubs tracking his situation at Shamrock Rovers this January.<\/p>\n

This winter, it has seemed like Hoffenheim are leading the race for Noonan,<\/a> who has been tracked by Celtic<\/a> over multiple transfer windows.<\/p>\n

At one point, it appeared that the deal was on the verge of completion, with the Hoops presenting a late bid in an attempt to change the player\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

However, it now looks like the German side may be left frustrated after a month of negotiations.<\/p>\n

Is the Irish market ideal for Celtic? <\/p>\n

\"MichaelPhoto By Marius Simensen\/Sportsfile via Getty Images <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Update on Celtic and Hoffenheim target Michael Noonan<\/p>\n

Noonan<\/a> doesn\u2019t turn 18 until July, meaning that he wouldn\u2019t be able to play for a club until then \u2013 though he is still available to sign in advance.<\/p>\n

However, Ireland\u2019s place in the EU means that he can move straight to Hoffenheim in this window, if a deal can be agreed before the deadline.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Motherwell boss backtracks over Tawanda Maswanhise stance amid Celtic links<\/a><\/p>\n

\"MichaelPhoto By Tyler Miller\/Sportsfile via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hoffenheim have sent multiple bids, none of which have met Rovers\u2019 valuation \u2013 but it had been expected that the clubs would reach an agreement.<\/p>\n

However, boss Stephen Bradley has now revealed that he expects Noonan to stay at the club this month, speaking after their President\u2019s Cup defeat to Derry City on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Bradley said: \u201cThe reason I didn\u2019t bring him on tonight is he missed a bit of training. <\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t do any of the heavy stuff this week because he had a little knock \u2013 so he literally only got back training on Thursday and did a little small bit on Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s why he didn\u2019t come on tonight, but no update. I\u2019d imagine he\u2019ll be here against Dundalk (next Friday).\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if Noonan had been to Germany, Bradley said: \u201cNo. He hasn\u2019t been to Germany. Maybe he was on holiday back sometime. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he hasn\u2019t been to Germany. Sunday, 48 hours, things happen so quickly, don\u2019t they? I don\u2019t know,.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything can happen, I don\u2019t want to lie to you, but if you are asking right now, Michael is in the plans for Dundalk.\u201d<\/p>\n

How many Celtic signings are you expecting on Deadline Day? <\/p>\n

\"CelticPhoto by Maciej Rogowski\/Eurasia Sport Images\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Celtic\u2019s \u2018optimism\u2019 of landing Michael Noonan<\/p>\n

It was reported in November that Celtic were \u2018optimistic\u2019 of landing Noonan,<\/a> despite the number of clubs in the race for the teenager.<\/p>\n

Whilst the focus for many fans is on first-team options, the Hoops reportedly see him as a long-term investment.<\/p>\n

Dermot Desmond\u2019s<\/a> influence at Rovers is another potential factor \u2013 Celtic bought Liam Scales<\/a> from the club in 2021.<\/p>\n

Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City are all also fans of Noonan \u2013 the latter first came close to signing him 18 months ago.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The race for Michael Noonan has taken yet another twist. The teenage Irish striker is hot property, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[20992,18,153248,19,17,51609,17859,13537,132,1757],"class_list":["post-315055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-celtic","tag-eire","tag-hoffenheim","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-january-transfer-window","tag-michael-noonan","tag-shamrock-rovers","tag-sports","tag-transfer-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115995904875704357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}