Troy, Troy and Troy again - the hat-trick hero is back in the headlines
Spurs link is a good story but an unwanted one
Cathal Dervan, Editor
You know you’ve made it as a goalscorer when Michael Owen starts to take notice of your career - or at least those who ghostwrite his column for a betting site start to ask questions about your future.
That’s the case right now according to reports around our Troy in the Irish Mirror and Irish Daily Star and carried elsewhere on this platform following AK Alkmaar’s Dutch Cup win at the weekend.
Parrott, the hat-trick hero of Budapest and now the country’s favourite sports star according to a recent survey, is a wanted man by all accounts and Michael thinks he should follow the money this summer.
Everyone from AC Milan to Borussia Dortmund fancy the young Dubliner whose career has really taken off at club level since he left Tottenham behind and took his chance in Holland, first on loan at Excelsior and now with Alkmaar.
A host of English clubs have also been linked with the 24-year-old including Leeds United, West Ham, Everton and Fulham.
And Spurs get a mention too - but only if they are relegated from the top flight of English football which is a real possibility at present after West Ham’s point at Crystal Palace on Monday night and their draw at home to Brighton on Sunday.
At first glance the condition that a return to north London for Parrott is dependent on the drop for Tottenham seems fair enough. The club that decided Parrott wasn’t ready to take a Premier League gamble on with a new contract just two summers ago, may well think he is good enough for the Championship now after honing his skills in the Eredivisie.
But think about that appraisal of Parrott’s coming of age with AZ and your Irish blood might just start to boil.
Who can argue with any justification that the Championship with Spurs is a better prospect for Troy’s next career step than AC Milan or Dortmund? Who can say that second division Spurs will be a better move than Leeds or West Ham if they stay up at Tottenham’s expense?
The truth is that Spurs had their chance to be loyal to Troy Parrott two years ago and didn’t take it. They were happy when he was dubbed the new Robbie Keane at a very young age but not happy enough to stand by him when he needed the comfort blanket of an extended stay in or around their first team squad.
Instead they let him leave for Holland, first with Excelsior and then for a permanent move to AZ Alkmaar. If anything, he has thrived on the back of that Tottenham rejection and realised, as well as proving, that England is not the only destination young Irish players should think about when the time comes for a career move.
That lesson is one that more and more young Irish players should take note of now that Brexit is as cemented in stone as the Luke Kelly statue in Troy’s beloved inner city home parish.
As for Troy? Well English clubs need him now more than he needs English clubs. He has proven himself as one of Europe’s leading goalscorers by moving to mainland Europe and he should stay there.
Italy, Spain, Germany or Portugal, with one of their big three clubs and maybe even Jose Mourinho’s Benfica, will offer our Hungary hero more than anyone across the Irish Sea as he looks to develop his skills even further.
Troy may indeed fancy a move back to Spurs to prove them wrong but he doesn’t have to - he’s already done that and more by going Dutch.
To put it simply, he should stay away from England now.