An injury crisis at any football club can sometimes be the chance one lucky youngster needs to become the hero for fans, yet it doesn’t seem like that exciting narrative will be happening at Tottenham any time soon.
Despite two potential season-ending injuries to Harry Kane and Heung-min Son as well as nearly a month since the closure of a transfer window that saw no new striker come to the club, Troy Parrott looks as far away from the Tottenham first-team as he ever has this season.
Jose Mourinho revealed to The Irish Examiner that he doesn’t believe the Republic of Ireland striker is ready for first-team football despite serious calls from fans and pundits that the teenager could be the answer to his squad problems, and Jamie Redknapp believes the Portuguese manager should give Parrott the chance he deserves.
Will Parrott be able to break into the first-team? |
The ex-Tottenham star told The Express: “Mourinho has claimed Parrott is ‘not ready’ but my sources at Tottenham say he is the real deal, with all the attributes to go to the very top. He has power, pace and is not the type to be fazed by a challenge. He’s been training with the first team, learning from the master Kane and has been capped by Ireland. I have every faith that Parrott is more than capable of doing a job for Mourinho and I hope he gets an opportunity to prove that, even if it’s off the substitutes’ bench.”
Mourinho’s use of youth academy players, of lack of, is well documented in his managerial career, with Tifo Football labelling the former Manchester United boss ‘the enemy of the academy’ due to his harsh stance on in-house youngsters, yet this time around, the 57-year-old manager has no reason to not be handing Parrott a chance.
It is always a risk to play a teenager as the focal point of any starting XI, yet if there isn’t that glimpse of potential in playing someone who could one day become a superstar we would not live in a world where the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are two of the biggest names in football and continuing to amaze us weekly, and for Mourinho and Tottenham, Parrott could offer them those moments.