Tried, Tested and Proven: Troy Parrott Joins Long List of EFL Late Bloomers

Tried, Tested and Proven: Troy Parrott Joins Long List of EFL Late Bloomers

Troy Parrott for the Ballon d’Or. Thanks to his at-the-death World Cup play-off qualifying heroics, these are the genuine claims of many (mainly Irish) fans across social media after the striker caused limbs of the highest order on Sunday evening.

Reactions to Troy Parrott's winner.

1. Dublin airport pic.twitter.com/rBbt1kMuB5

— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) November 16, 2025

Parrott by no means had it easy in becoming a national hero. Tipped as Tottenham Hotspur’s next Harry Kane for years on end, the Irishman could never break into the first team ahead of England’s number 10 and was subsequently shipped out on loan on four separate occasions.

It was these relatively unsuccessful loans to EFL sides Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston would be the proving grounds on which Parrott built and developed his trade, a trade which, in the past two years, he has taken to the next level.

Now a starting striker for Dutch giants AZ Alkmaar, the former Spurs man is making the Eredivisie look like child's play, and while some would put it down to the growing familiarity with the league (he is now in his third season there), many more would have to give credit to his many loan spells, periods that gave him first-team experience, regular minutes, and a lesson in physicality and mentality.

This goal by Troy Parrott in the final min of the game is one for the ages.

Scored hat trick to make sure that Ireland qualifies for WC playoffs. pic.twitter.com/VoWuu32FNW

— Gaurav Shrestha❤️‍🔥🇳🇵 (@GTXShrestha) November 17, 2025

Parrott’s story from failed hotshot to national hero is comforting evidence that although many of the hundreds of Premier League to EFL loans that take place each season don’t necessarily end in success, some can emerge as uncut diamonds, even if it takes them a little longer to develop than initially thought.

The Next Harry Kane?

There was a time in the late 2010s that the hype surrounding Troy Parrott was up there alongside some of the best youth prospects to thrive on the Premier League scene, including Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka.

The Irishman was scoring goals for fun in every band of the Spurs youth setup, bagging more goals than games played in the U18s, U19s, and U23s all in a two-season period.

Netting three goals in the U23s' first two games of the 2019/20 season, and earning his first senior international call-up in the process, then-coach Jose Mourinho had seen enough to introduce the exceptionally promising Irishman into the senior team, a move which coincided with star man Kane suffering an injury-hit season in which he made just 34 appearances in all competitions.

However, aged just 17 at the time, Parrott was physically underdeveloped and lacked the sharp instinct required to be a regular Premier League goalscorer, and in four goalless appearances across three competitions that year, it quickly became clear that he was not ready for top-flight football.

Troy Parrott (19) - Tottenham Hotspurs to MK Dons on loan (2021) pic.twitter.com/5byATFqZLF

— Transfersthathappened (@actualtransfers) November 16, 2025

He would not make another appearance for Tottenham. The Tottenham development team decided that the best course of action was to follow the standard practice of sending him out on loan to a side in the EFL. As a result, Parrott promptly joined Championship side Millwall, but he would fail to find the net in 14 games and was recalled in January as Spurs reconsidered his development plan.

The same month, Parrott dropped down a division to League One, this time joining Ipswich Town, and although he found the net for the first time at the senior level, two goals in 18 games was nowhere near enough to convince his parent club that he was ready for first-team action.

In 2021/22, Parrott was sent on another loan, this time to MK Dons, and unlike his previous stints, managed to prolong his stay to the end of the season, his 10 goals in 47 games a big uptick in output from the previous campaign.

However, his goals-to-games ratio was still not where the Spurs development team wanted it, and he was once again shipped out on a loan move, returning to the second tier with Preston. It was here that Tottenham finally lost patience - four goals in 34 games represented an exceptionally poor return on their investment in the youngster, and even Spurs fans wrote him off. He was simply another youngster that would never reach his full potential.

We have reached agreement with Dutch Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar for the permanent transfer of Troy Parrott.

Wishing you all the best for the future, Troy! 👊

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 13, 2024

Parrott, though, had other ideas. With a platform of 113 first-team club games on which to build, the Irish international had to be careful with who he moved to next, and his eventual decision turned out to be career-defining.

The Case of the Late Bloomer

Parrott opted to take the little-trodden path across the channel and onto the Dutch football scene. Signing with Eredivisie side Excelsior Rotterdam, it represented Parrott’s first full season in any top-flight league, and a chance to get his career back on track.

It was here that he first showed Europe what he was capable of - 10 league goals, and a further seven across four relegation play-off games. Parrott did his level best to keep the club in the first tier but could only watch on as they agonisingly tasted relegation in a play-off defeat with second-tier outfit NAC Breda.

However, his form secured him a move to AZ Alkmaar, and as is so often the case in football, the rest is history.

Guarantee the idiots at Tottenham Hotspur didn’t put any buy back clause in the Troy Parrott deal

— Christian (@Christianjw92) November 16, 2025

In one and a half seasons at the club, Parrott has netted 33 times, a total which includes 11 goals in continental competition and 20 in the Eredivisie. This season alone, he is averaging almost a goal per game, and with five goals in his last two internationals, this form is now being reflected in the Irish senior team.

But none of this would have been possible without the invaluable EFL experience he was given in his fledgling days.

We see it all the time - young stars from clubs across England are sent to the lower leagues to cut their teeth, as it were, in the hopeful event that one or two thrive and can subsequently be drafted up the football pyramid in order to develop further.

As a Chelsea fan, I am more familiar with this process than most: Chelsea’s annual list of loan leavers is something akin to a small army, and for a while, we were a case study in how not to develop young players.

The likes of Charlie Musonda, Jamal Blackman, Charlie Colkett and Jake Clarke-Salter were all highly rated but failed to impress on their countless loan moves, which saw them leave the club with a whimper rather than a roar.

Others, such as Ola Aina, Dominic Solanke, Jeremie Boga and Fikayo Tomori, would go on to be extremely successful, but would be late bloomers: Aina and Boga would only begin to thrive in their mid-twenties, while Solanke and Tomori’s first big seasons came late on as well.

Ola Aina is actually so underrated. Another ex Cobham player who’s become a solid T5 league player.

Good in 1v1’s, versatile playing RB, LB, RWB, LWB, even CB in a back 3 in the past.

Reliable athletic overlapping outlet with solid delivery. Needs to stay at a club for longer. pic.twitter.com/fChZqxNov5

— Ben Mattinson (@Ben_Mattinson_) April 28, 2024

In all of the above examples, the EFL played a crucial role in their development, both as players and as people, and I think every single one of them would give their loan moves significant credit as to how they shaped their respective careers.

Who Are Some Other High-Profile Late Bloomers

It may be harsh to describe Parrott as a late bloomer when considering he is still just 23 (for context, a year younger than me … yikes), but this is certainly the upper end of the age spectrum when strikers are expected to start thriving. However, in recent years there has been a growing correlation between EFL experience and late development.

Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres sticks out as a prime example. Formerly of Brighton, the Swedish striker was loaned to both Swansea and Coventry despite having little success at either. Signing for Coventry permanently at the end of the season, Gyokeres left his parents to very few tears in a similar manner to Parrott - just another prospect that failed to deliver on their promise. Oh, how wrong they were.

In his two seasons at the Sky Blues, Gyokeres would net 40 goals, help them to an FA Cup semi-final, and take them oh so close to Premier League promotion, losing to Luton on penalties in the 2023 final.

Mirroring another step in Parrott’s career, Gyokeres moved abroad to further his development, signing for Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2023. This move would finally put the wheels into motion - in two years, he would net 97 goals in 102 games in Portugal, eventually leading to Arsenal splashing almost £60 million on him in the summer.

Gyokeres was at Brighton 4 seasons and didn’t play a league game, bare loans

— Lippy (@LickshotLippy) November 2, 2024

Nathan Aké sticks out as another good example - another from the small city’s worth of Chelsea loanees that go out each season (is my bias starting to come through yet?), the Dutchman largely failed to live up to the high expectations he had set in the Chelsea youth ranks, with loan spells at both Reading and Watford garnering little success.

Eventually a loan deal to Bournemouth saw him improve, and signing for them permanently at the start of the 2017/18 season, he quickly became a key player for the Cherries.

Consistently performing at a high standard across his three seasons on the South Coast, Aké eventually secured the big move he had been so long touted for in 2020, when Manchester City swooped in for him and made him a rotation option at the back. Since the move, Ake has played 152 times, scored 10 goals, and picked up 10 separate winners' medals. Safe to say that though he was late to the party, he still delivered on his potential.

The one thing that Gyokeres, Ake and Parrott all have in common? An unsuccessful background in the EFL. Though Gyokeres would eventually thrive in the second tier, Parrott and Ake struggled to keep their heads above water, and the same goes for so many other late developers.

Harry Kane flopped in the Championship before becoming one of the best strikers on the planet, Serge Gnabry had a terrible time at West Brom before becoming a key part of Bayern Munich’s attack, and Ivan Toney took a long path to the top via the likes of Scunthorpe, Barnsley, Shrewsbury and Peterborough.#

Harry Kane didn’t explode onto the scene.
He went on loan after loan, Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich, Leicester, with barely any goals and a lot of doubts.

Everything changed when he returned to Spurs and linked up with Pochettino.
Right coach. Right environment.
21 Premier… pic.twitter.com/aJmF2FKEXn

— Train Effective (@TrainEffective) November 14, 2025

These players are case studies for why EFL development is so important for young players. While it may not feel like a successful move at the time, and in some cases, the value of a seemingly innocuous move to a League One club can take years to show itself.

But to be given regular minutes as a young player in a league where physicality, intelligence and instinct are all so highly valued has proved absolutely essential to some of the world’s best, and in the case of Troy Parrott, he is proving yet again why the EFL is one of the best proving grounds in world football.

Already tipped for a move back to the Premier League, don’t be surprised if you start to hear the Irishman’s name more and more in the coming years. And don’t be surprised if he genuinely does appear on the list of Ballon d’Or nominees next October!