Ipswich Town are close to an agreement to sign 17-year-old Irish goalkeeper Alex Noonan from Shamrock Rovers. For Shamrock Rovers, he has not yet made a League of Ireland appearance but did feature in the President’s Cup final in January. Noonan has visited Playford Road on multiple occasions and is nearing a transfer to the Blues before the start of the new season. Town's keeper-coach, Rene Gilmartin, who also works with the Irish U21s, is reportedly confident that Noonan has the ability to succeed at the top level. His current manager at Rovers, Stephen Bradley, has also praised the player and indicated he would not hesitate to use him in the first team. Noonan has 3 caps for the Republic of Ireland U19 team.