On Saturday, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino namechecked 16-year old Irish striker Troy Parrott as an option to replace Harry Kane and Heung Min Son in the Spurs frontline.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding Parrott for a number of months now, with some even comparing the 16-year old to legendary striker Robbie Keane.
Parrott was even given his first squad number for the London giants, sporting 71 as he appears as though he is edging closer and closer to the first team.
But who exactly is Troy Parrott? Here is everything you need to know about Tottenham’s Irish wonderkid.
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Name:
Troy Parrott.
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Date of birth:
February 4th 2002.
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Where Is He From?
Troy Parrott grew up in Dublin and played his schoolboy football with Belvedere before being snapped up by Tottenham’s youth academy this summer.
He is from the same area of Dublin as former Ireland international Wes Hoolahan.
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What Position Does He Play?
Parrott is primarily a number nine but has the ability to play as a second striker just off a target man or out wide on the left if required.
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Style Of Play?
The 16-year old isn’t an imposing figure up top but his technical quality and footballing intelligence mean that he has the ability to play with his back to goal.
Parrott is quick, such is his ability to also occupy the wide areas but his standout quality is arguably his finishing ability, from both inside and outside the area.
He also plays with a signature nonchalance which has become the staple of his game.
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What Current/Former Premier League Player Does He Resemble?
In terms of a do-it-all style of striker, he could be compared to his Spurs teammate Harry Kane, although that’s an understandably lofty comparison.
Parrott’s nonchalant style is also reminiscent of a certain Dimitar Berbatov, but in fairness to Parrott, his work rate already appears to be much higher than the mercurial Bulgarian.
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How Has He Performed For Tottenham’s Underage Sides This Season?
Excellently. The Irish striker has appeared across a number of competitions for Spurs’ U18s, U19s and even their U23s.
He has been in tremendous goalscoring form in the U18 Premier League especially, bagging nine goals and three assists in just six games according to Transfermarkt.co.uk.
Parrott has also impressed in Europe for the U19s scoring twice and grabbing headlines for his fantastic strike against Inter Milan towards the end of November.
"How about that for a finish?!"
Troy Parrott found the very top corner with an absolute beauty for Spurs in the UEFA Youth League ?
A precision strike from the Irishman ☘️ pic.twitter.com/oGvUKva88p
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 28, 2018
He’s also managed to make the step up to the Premier League 2 starting four games this season and notching up one assist.
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How Has He Fared At International Level?
Parrott was, of course, name-checked by former Irish manager Martin O’Neill earlier this year as a player that he would consider calling up to the first team however that never occurred.
Despite this Parrott, who has played for Ireland at U15s, U17s and U19s level, has impressed whenever he has put on a green shirt as one of the stars of the Boys in Green’s exciting and vibrant U19s squad.
The 16-year old scored a hattrick against the Faroe Islands and a goal against Bosnia in Ireland’s European Championship qualifying campaign as he proved he could translate his club form to international level.
Before this he had been an integral part of Ireland’s U17s who performed so well at the U17s European Championships, scoring in the heartbreaking quarter-final defeat to the Netherlands.
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Are The Robbie Keane Comparisons Warranted?
Yes and no. Parrott’s style of play is a little different to Keane’s in the sense that he will involve himself much more in general play, receiving the ball from deep and playing with his back to goal.
The comparisons however with his goalscoring are indeed warranted, and although they are huge and probably unrealistic boots to fill, Parrott has been doing everything right so far.
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