Ipswich Town, Millwall and Preston may share Spurs surprise when looking to the Netherlands: View | OneFootball

One striker who struggled in the EFL is now impressing in the Netherlands

The loan market is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity for Football League clubs when it comes to player recruitment.

With finances tightening and scrutiny on spending increasing, it does seem as though solid permanent signings for transfer fees are becoming harder to source.

As a result, loan deals with Premier League clubs will often be exploited in every transfer window, giving teams a quick fix to the gaps in their squad that need filling.

Those deals have the potential to be profitable for all involved, with young players boosting their development with game time they would not otherwise get.

The clubs who are signing them on loan meanwhile, can benefit from the services of a useful asset, who may help to boost their results for a period.

Not every loan move to the EFL will work out like that though, and one player who seemingly struggled with several of those moves, was Troy Parrott.

Tottenham striker found goals hard to come by in the EFL

Coming through the youth ranks at Tottenham, Parrott had delivered a rather promising scoring record in front of goal.

As a result, the striker did look to be a rather promising signing for Millwall, when he joined the Championship club on a season-long loan in the summer of 2020.

However, things did not really work out for the Irishman, in what was an injury-hit period at The Den for him.

When he did get on the pitch, he would also find it hard to make an impact, failing to score in 14 appearances in all competitions.

As a result, he was recalled from his spell at Millwall prematurely by Spurs in January 2021, which is a telling reflection of how things went for him there.

Parrott would then see out the 2020/21 campaign on loan in League One with Ipswich Town, although the forward would again endure some frustration.

While he did get his first senior goals while playing for the Tractor Boys, he did not find the net regularly, scoring just twice in 18 appearances as the club fell short of the play-offs.

The 2021/22 campaign was slightly more successful for the Irishman as he again returned to League One, this time with Milton Keynes Dons.

Even so, a return of 10 goals in 47 games for a striker in a club pushing for promotion - eventually being beaten in the play-offs - may be considered somewhat below par.

It was though, enough to earn Parrott another chance in the Championship during the 2022/23 season, this time with Preston North End.

However, although there signs of his ability, it was another disappointing season in front of goal for the striker.

Across 34 appearances for the Lilywhites, the Tottenham loanee scored just four times, meaning he did not provide the firepower the club needed to break into the Championship's top six spots.

So with Parrott not getting the goals Millwall, Ipswich or Preston would have wanted from him, those three sides may now wonder what might have been, when looking to events in the Netherlands.

Millwall, Ipswich and Preston may have missed out with Parrott

Following the end of his loan spell with Preston in the summer of 2023, the striker was again sent out on loan by Tottenham.

This time though, he did not return to the Football League, instead linking up with Dutch top-flight side Excelsior.

It was a move that finally seemed to bring the best out of Parrott when it came to goalscoring, finding the net on 17 occasions in 32 games, more than in all his EFL loan spells combined.

That ensured the Irishman made some vital contributions to keep Excelsior in the Eredivisie, finishing the campaign as the club's top scorer by some distance.

On the back of that, Parrott returned to the Netherlands again this summer, and this time, he made a permanent move to another Eredivisie club, in the form of AZ Alkmaar.

Having made that move, the striker has rather picked up where he left off in the Netherlands at the start of the campaign.

Earlier this month, Parrott scored a remarkable four goals - more than he got for any of Ipswich, Millwall or Preston - in a single 9-1 thrashing of Heerenveen.

Then, on Wednesday night, he was again the hero by scoring the penalty that ensured Alkmaar began their Europa League campaign with a 3-2 win over Swedish side Elfsborg.

As a result, it does seem as though Parrott is now starting to thrive in the Netherlands, in a way he was never really able to do in England.

Given he is doing at a high level on the continent, there may be some questions as to why he was not able to make a similar impact in the Football League in the past.

With that in mind, those connected with Ipswich, Millwall and Preston may feel they were rather short-changed with what they got from Parrott, with how he has since fared in the Netherlands.