It’s almost six years since Troy Parrott made his first-team debut for Tottenham as a fresh-faced 17-year-old, in a pre-season friendly against Serie A giants Juventus in Singapore.
The Dubliner’s 45-minute display in front of 50,000 fans, against a team that included Cristiano Ronaldo, had Spurs fans convinced that they were looking at the next Robbie Keane, as he held his own against a strong Juve defence.
Up against Italy legend Leonardo Bonucci, Parrott played a role in Spurs’ opener and he would have marked his bow with a goal of his own, were it not for poor officiating.
Son Heung-min was wrongly adjudged to have been offside in the build-up, so Parrott’s celebrations were cut short after he fired the ball past Gianluigi Buffon and into the net.
Parrott was replaced by Harry Kane at half-time - he would partner the England striker in their next friendly against Manchester United - and Kane netted a last-gasp goal to give Spurs a 3-2 win.
But fans had seen enough to call for then manager Mauricio Pochettino to promote the teenager to back-up striker behind Kane.
Parrott did make his first-team breakthrough in the 2019/20 season. His competitive debut came in a League Cup penalty shootout defeat to Colchester United. Having started that game, the youngster was off the pitch by the time the game went to spot-kicks.
He was just 17 years and 10 months old when he made his Premier League bow, as a late substitute in a 5-0 win against Burnley.
Parrott made three more appearances, coming off the bench in the 89th minute against Wolves in the Premier League and then featuring for most of extra-time in an FA Cup penalty shootout loss to Norwich.
Erik Lamela celebrates with Troy Parrott (Image: Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
That was his final appearance for Spurs, with the rest of his first-team action coming during underwhelming loan spells at Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston.
It was when he made a season-long switch to Excelsior in the Dutch top-flight that fans again saw the type of player that excited the Spurs faithful during the summer of 2019.
His 17 goals with Excelsior earned him a permanent move to AZ Alkmaar, where he has already scored 17 goals this season, ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League return to his former North London side.
Parrott has already scored four goals in Europe so far this season, including the winner against Serie A giants Roma.
After he came agonisingly close to netting in last week’s first-leg win over Spurs, AZ fans will hope that their top-scoring Irishman can add to his tally on Thursday and pile more misery on his old employers.
Troy Parrott of Tottenham Hotspur and Joao Cancelo of Juventus (Image: Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
Here’s a look at the Tottenham XI when Parrott made his bow, and where they are now…
Paulo Gazzaniga
The 33-year-old is now at La Liga side Girona. He moved from Spurs to Fulham and made 15 first-team appearances in the 2021/22 season. After impressing during a loan move to Girona, the one-time capped Argentina goalkeeper made a permanent move to Spain ahead of the 2023/24 campaign. Gazzaniga made 25 first-team appearances for Spurs in the 2019/20 season.
Kyle Walker-Peters
The full-back made just five first-team appearances for Tottenham in 2019/20 and was loaned in the January transfer window to Southampton. A permanent move followed in the summer of 2020 and he has chalked up a total of 185 games for the Saints to date.
Toby Alderweireld
A regular for Spurs in the 2019/20 campaign, with 33 Premier League appearances, he spent one more year at the club before moving to Qatar in the summer of 2021. Now aged 36, he is into his third season in his home country, with Belgian side Royal Antwerp.
Japhet Tanganga
One of three prospects handed a start by Pochettino against Juventus, centre-half Tanganga made 11 first-team appearances in the 2019/20 season. He went on to play 50 times for Tottenham and had loan spells in the Bundesliga with FC Augsburg and the Championship with Millwall, before moving permanently to the Lions last summer.
Anthony Georgiou
Despite starting against Juventus, full-back Georgiou did not add to the solitary Spurs appearance he made two years earlier. The London-born Cyprus international spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Ipswich and Bolton, before moving to AEL Limassol. The 28-year-old is currently playing in the National League with Wealdstone.
Oliver Skipp
Aged 18 when he played against Juventus, midfielder Skipp made a total of 106 appearances for Spurs before his move last summer to Leicester.
Harry Winks
Winks moved to Leicester a year before his Juve midfield partner Skipp, after appearing over 200 times for Spurs. He had a spell in Serie A on-loan at Sampdoria during the 2022/23 campaign.
Troy Parrott of Tottenham Hotspur in action during the International Champions Cup match against Juventus (Image: Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
Erik Lamela
He was already six years at Spurs when Lamela featured against Juventus, and he spent two more years at the North London club before moving to La Liga with Sevilla. Last summer, the former Argentina midfielder made the move to Greek side AEK Athens.
Dele Alli
A hamstring injury ruled Dele Alli out of the start of the 2019/20 season, while the arrival of Jose Mourinho midway through that campaign saw him revert to a more attacking role. The following season saw him fall out of favour, and he went six months without a Premier League start. Shortly after Antonio Conte took over at Spurs, he was transferred to Everton. Dele Alli joined Serie A side Como during the recent transfer window, but has yet to make his debut.
Son Heung-min
The South Korea star is the only member of the starting-11 against Juventus that is still at Spurs. Now into his 10th season at the club, Son is closing in on his 450th appearance for the North London side.
Troy Parrott
Spurs fans have been wondering ‘what if’ in the days since his commanding performance in AZ Alkmaar’s 1-0 first-leg win. Can Parrott seal the Dutch side’s progress on Thursday and pile more misery on under-fire coach Ange Postecoglou?
Troy Parrott celebrates his goal against Roma (Image: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
HERE’S how Spurs fans reacted to Parrott’s Juventus display
Troy Parrott’s performance against Juventus gave the Tottenham faithful real hope that they had unearthed a long-term replacement for Harry Kane.
This is just a flavour of the reaction online in the wake of his 45-minute outing against Serie A giants Juventus in July 2019…
“This is possibly a brave early statement however I would sooner rather Mauricio Pochettino give Troy Parrott the opportunity to compete with Harry Kane as our striker option rather than give Fernando Llorente another 12-month contract.”
“Troy Parrott just turned 17 this year, he’d still be in his first year of college / sixth form and he’s out here starting for Spurs against Juventus and playing very very well, remember that name.”
“Troy Parrott has been really good & the standout player so far for me - playing off the shoulder well, good one-two’s, and is making some impressively mature decisions on the ball. Are we sure the boy is only 17?”
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