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Opinion: Mauricio Pochettino will drop Tottenham man to u23s despite pre-season success

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Troy Parrott has been a regular for Tottenham during pre-season and has impressed in the International Champions Cup. The 17-year-old played 45 minutes against Juventus on July 21 and 45 minutes against Manchester United on July 25 and is fast making a name for himself.

However, despite Pochettino needing a backup striker to Harry Kane, Parrot is unlikely to get the nod in 2019/20. Kane is seldom substituted in games, so it’s hard to see Parrott getting much playing time – Pochettino withdrew Kane only 6 times in 40 appearances in all competitions last season.

The Tottenham manager won’t want a developing player sitting on the bench for the majority of the campaign when he can play football for the u23s, so Parrot might be dropped back down to the reserves after pre-season.

The Republic of Ireland u19 international is still young and untested at this level, so it would be a big call for Parrot to shoulder some of the scoring burden. If Pochettino can’t land another striker this summer, he could look to Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura for cover in attack rather than consider the teenager.

That’s not to say Parrot doesn’t have promise, but a place in the first-team may be too soon for him.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.