Celtic have had their eyes on the next generation of talent at the U17 World Cup in Qatar.
The Hoops may not have a new permanent manager in place, but that hasn’t stopped them looking at a number of options ahead of the transfer window.
As well as bringing in ready-made first-team players, the chance to plan ahead and bring in youngsters to develop is also on their minds.
Scouts have been at the U17 World Cup for that exact reason, and as revealed by 67 Hail Hail, two Republic of Ireland stars were watched by Celtic, with one getting on the scoresheet.
Vinnie Leonard scores for Ireland in U17 defeat vs Switzerland
While the headlines have been all about Ireland’s senior side following their 2026 World Cup qualifier heroics, their U17s have been doing just as well.
They reached the round of 16, where they were drawn against Switzerland.
Both of the Celtic-linked duo Michael Noonan and Vinnie Leonard started the game, but were unable to advance to the quarter-finals, suffering a 3-1 loss.
Leonard did score to make it 2-1 from a goal mouth scramble to keep their hopes alive, only for Switzerland to quickly restore their two-goal advantage and end Ireland’s journey.
Dundalk manager hoping to keep Leonard at the club
It has been a remarkable breakout campaign for the centre-back after he established himself in Dundalk’s first team.
He became their youngest-ever goalscorer with his strike against Athlone Town and has been watched by several sides in England, as well as Celtic.
Aware of his talents, Dundalk manager Ciaran Kilduff admitted that he wasn’t surprised to hear of the interest all the way back in May 2025, but hopes to have the 17-year-old around for a while longer.
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“Vinnie is enjoying his football here, he’s playing, and he’s contracted to the club, so there’s nothing that I can actually report on,” he told the Dundalk Democrat.
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