Evening Standard
·13 July 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsEvening Standard
·13 July 2024
Academy graduate leaves Spurs after seven years to return to the Eredivisie, where he shone on loan at Excelsior
Tottenham have confirmed the completed sale of striker Troy Parrott to AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands.
The Republic of Ireland international makes a swift return to the Eredivisie, where he impressed last term with 17 goals and five assists in 32 total appearances across all competitions during a productive season-long loan stint in Rotterdam with Excelsior.
Though his efforts weren’t enough to ultimately save the club from relegation, Parrott obviously caught the eye in the Dutch top-flight as fourth-place finishers Alkmaar swooped to secure his services.
Standard Sport understands that Spurs have received a fee of €8million (£6.7m) for the 22-year-old, an academy graduate who joined as a youngster in 2017 from Dublin side Belvedere.
Parrott made a total of four senior appearances for Tottenham after signing his first professional contract in 2019, all of which came during the 2019/20 season under the management of first Mauricio Pochettino and then Jose Mourinho.
He made his debut in the penalty shootout upset by Colchester in the third round of the Carabao Cup and also appeared as a late substitute in Premier League games against Burnley and Wolves.
His final senior outing for Spurs was as a late stoppage-time replacement for Dele Alli in the 1-1 draw with Norwich in the fifth round of the FA Cup in March 2020, a game which also ended in defeat on penalties.
Parrott - who has five goals in 23 senior appearances for the Republic of Ireland - was sent out for four separate loan spells in the EFL before heading to the Netherlands, spending time at Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston.
His Tottenham contract was due to expire in the summer of 2025 after an extension signed in 2022.
“Before I signed here, I heard a lot of good things about AZ,” Parrott said. “I think AZ is the perfect club for me to take the next steps in my development.
“I will take the useful experience from last year with me. It helps me that I already played in the Netherlands last season and am therefore used to the competition and life here. In short, I am very happy to be here and can't wait to meet the supporters in the stadium.”
Parrott has taken the vacant No9 shirt at AFAS Stadion and will help fill the void left in Maarten Martens’ squad by the departures of strikers Vangelis Pavlidis and Jens Odgaard to Benfica and Bologna respectively, becoming Alkmaar’s second signing of the summer so far after the arrival of Japan international right-back Seiya Maikuma from Cerezo Osaka.
He follows the likes of Joe Rodon out of the Tottenham exit door following the latter’s permanent move to Leeds, with Eric Dier, Tanguy Ndombele, Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon and Japhet Tanganga also departing.
View publisher imprintSpurs have signed Archie Gray from Leeds and welcomed Swedish forward Lucas Bergvall to north London so far this summer, while on Friday they announced a new five-year contract for highly-rated teenage striker Will Lankshear.
Live