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In Tottenham’s win over Juventus on Sunday afternoon, Mauricio Pochettino opted to start 17-year-old striker Troy Parrott for his Spurs debut.
For some, perhaps not familiar with youth football, Parrott’s name would have come as a surprise with Harry Kane starting the game on the bench.
The Irishman would not have shocked many fans of the north London club however, as the young Irishman has been touted as a star for the future since his move from Dublin club Belvedere in 2017.
Parrott signed his first professional deal on his 17th birthday and travelled with the Tottenham squad for their Premier League game with Leicester in December.
Often lauded as the next Robbie Keane due to his Spurs link and Irish heritage, Ireland’s all-time record scorer spoke about the comparison when speaking ahead of his nation’s quest for Euro 2020 qualification.
“He’s got ability, I speak to Pochettino all the time and he loves him. Jesus the assistant manager loves him. He definitely has potential but he’s 17 and I know I got thrown in at 17 but he’s still young.
“He’s got a lot of potential. People at Tottenham love him. He’s a lovely lad but when he gets the opportunity to go to the U21s he certainly has a chance but it’s up to him.”
Indeed, Tottenham rejected Ireland’s request to take Parrott to the Under-19 European Championships this summer, a competition in which he scored four during qualification in order to help The Boys in Green to the finals in Armenia.
That rejection displays Pochettino’s willingness to hand the youngster an opportunity to impress, which the youngster duly delivered on when playing a vital role in Spurs’ opening goal.
When counter-attacking the usually formidable Juve defence, the Dublin-born striker made an intelligent run before receiving the ball and firing across goal, leaving Erik Lamela to stab home the rebound after a save from Gianluigi Buffon.
With Fernando Llorente currently without a club and Vincent Janssen heading to Mexico this week, Parrott has the chance to squash any conundrums Pochettino may have over who deputises in Harry Kane’s absence next season.
In fact, the decision to use the 17-year-old doesn’t appear such a risk for the Argentine due to the abilities of Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura to fill in if needed.
Parrott has already proved that he is far too good to still be playing youth football scoring 15 in 12 during Spurs’ Under-18 Premier League campaign before being promoted to the Under-23’s squad.
With Pochettino one of the world’s top coaches at nurturing young talent, Parrott has all the skills to follow the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Kyle Walker-Peters to become the next graduate of the Tottenham academy system.
Should Parrott continue to impressive in Tottenham’s remaining pre-season fixtures, the 17-year-old may well play a role in Pochettino’s first-team plans as Spurs look to go one better from last season’s Champions League final disappointment and being silverware to N17.
