It is fairly evident that Jose Mourinho is not yet convinced by Troy Parrott, an opinion that is not exactly shared by his former Republic of Ireland manager, Mick McCarthy.
Mourinho has had a lot to say about the 18-year-old including calling him the “privileged one and that “He’s a very young kid with a lot, a lot, a lot to learn.
McCarthy does not contradict Mourinho’s assessment of the youngster but he clearly feels that the striker needs game time if he is to progress and even compared him to former Tottenham forward Robbie Keane at the same age.
McCarthy gave Parrott his international debut when he was the manager of Ireland and he appears to have more confidence in the teenager’s ability and believes that the lad has to play, even if it means going out on loan.
McCarthy was specifically asked about Parrott on the Experience Epic podcast and responded, as quoted by TeamTalk: “He’s got to play.
“People have likened him to Robbie Keane and it might be in terms of a goalscoring, but certainly different in terms of his personality.
“Robbie got in the Ireland team at 18, he was in the Wolves team as well and he lit the place up.
“Troy is going to be a good player and I loved working with him, but unless he is going to play in someone’s first team, then no (he won’t progress).
“Dele Alli went to MK Dons and did exceptionally well, Harry Kane went to Millwall, Leicester and Leyton Orient and he made himself a player by going out there and I think Troy has got to do that.”
McCarthy may well be right in that Parrott needs to leave on loan to continue his development but it is frustrating that he is considered good enough to play at international level but not yet ready to feature more often for the Spurs first team.