The next Harry Kane? Troy Parrott is beginning to blossom on loan in Milton Keynes

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Whilst every Premier League side has a strong talent pool within their youth academies, not all progress into the starting elevens almost immediately in the same fashion as Phil Foden or Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Many players have to cut their teeth away from their parental club and learn what is needed elsewhere.

Troy Parrott, of Tottenham Hotspur, is following a similar career path to that of his parent club’s starlet, the current England Captain, Harry Kane. Kane, now 28 years old, started his progression chart playing at five clubs on loan before breaking into the Spurs first team aged 21.

Despite the vast chasm in ability at present, there are many similarities between the pair at their comparative ages with Parrott, currently on his third loan spell away from Spurs Lodge, following an almost identical career pathway moving through the lower echelons of the English football pyramid.

Whilst Parrott is still learning his trade in the third tier of English football at Milton Keynes Dons, he can boast something that Kane could not – the Republic of Ireland international has represented his country on seven occasions, making his debut aged just 17 – Kane did not enter the international stage until he was a year older.

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Tottenham Hotspur are a club who have a strong ethos of letting their future generations build and hone their skills away from the club, gaining experience in lower-league professional football, instead of simply turning out for the academy age groups, playing against their developmental counterparts.

Similarly to the Englishman, who led his nation to the Euro 2020 final this summer, their professional careers both kicked off in London, at Leyton Orient and Millwall respectively, and both will agree that neither hit their straps from the get go. Kane managed to find the net four times in his 15 appearances, compared to Parrott’s non-starting total of no goals from 11 matches, but it is worth noting his fledgling beginning was in the Championship compared to League Two.

For the second half of the 2020/21 season Parrott found himself playing at Portman Road for Ipswich, again in the Championship, returning lowly numbers of 2 goals from 18 outings.

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Despite the negativity that could be read into the above statistics, it was in the second season of his loan venture where Kane’s talent began to shine. In 2011, aged just 18 he moved to League One side Millwall for the campaign, playing 22 games and scoring seven times also, earning many plaudits for his ability to lead the line.

In Parrott’s case, he finds himself wearing the white of MK Dons in League One and the early signs of his progression pathway appear promising. Having netted twice in his opening five matches, he has impressed his new supporters and has earnt high praise from his head coach during his short stay in Buckinghamshire.

The Irish international managed to breach the defences of two accomplished outfits in Charlton and Sunderland, whose playing squads can easily be argued to be stronger than third tier-level, and superior to a few of their rivals a division higher.

Although his parent side will first and foremost be looking for game time and goals for their heir-apparent to Kane, they will be also monitoring his efforts off the ball.

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Taking into consideration of Spurs’ desire to play attacking, possession-based football, they will be looking keenly for growth in his ability to retain control of the ball when it moved forwards and to effectively bring his teammates into the match.

Within his opening six displays for Liam Manning’s Dons, Parrott has demonstrated a versatility to his game, having found himself employed and asked to perform in a variety of attacking roles.

At home to Charlton he was utilised as an link-up forward, playing the number 11 role and looking to apply service first-and-foremost for teammate Mo Eisa.

The 19-year-old performed admirably and arguably if it wasn’t for his unselfishness he would have scored a brace, as from only six yards out he looked to square across to his striking partner instead of pulling the trigger.

In the Dons most recent game against Portsmouth, due to an injury side-lining his regular strike partner MK chose to play with Parrott as a target man up against two central defenders, looking to hold up the ball to bring his midfield runners and wing-backs further forward.

For the majority of the first half he was found rather isolated, but when he did manage to get into the game, he flashed moments of brilliance that showcased his talents, on one particular occasion only to be thwarted by his international teammate, Gavin Bazunu, in the opposition goal.

Bazunu himself made two spectacular first half saves to deny Parrott from breaking the deadlock, proving why he will play at a higher level.

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Parrott excelled for a player who has built his career to date on being a poacher and trying to supply his finishing touches to moves, something his parent club will be very keen to see.

For a striker who is not blessed with great height, he still managed to win every aerial duel he challenged for and as a result created a couple of opportunities, one of which occurred in the build up to the decisive goal, scored by Ethan Robson to earn all three points.

Troy Parrott truly does have the world at his feet, learning and performing in the professional arena, just as Harry Kane did six years previous. If he continues to progress and earn opportunities on the International scene for Stephen Kenny’s side, and churn out performances as he has done in his brief spell at Stadium MK, there is not a ceiling that can be placed upon his potential, and Tottenham may have unearthed their future number nine.

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