Dutch football legend heaps praise on Troy Parrott and predicts big future

Former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart says his old club must be wondering why they let “gem” Troy Parrott go to AZ Alkmaar.

Spurs sold the 22-year-old Republic of Ireland striker to the Dutch club for £6.7million in the summer.

Dubliner Parrott, who hit 17 goals in Holland last season while on loan at Excelsior, netted four in the brutal 9-1 demolition of Robin van Persie’s Heerenveen last month.

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Van der Vaart said: “He’s going to be a really big player.

“I saw him at Excelsior, but then he was more on the counter. Now he is a good, footballing striker who actually has everything.

“He just needs to develop his killer instinct a bit. He is a gem.”

“He can perhaps play football a bit too well to be a killer. Then you start wandering a bit and that costs strength. In the final phase you lack some strength to score. I really think he is a gem.”

While Parrott was rated very highly by Spurs, he failed to force his way into the first-team picture following multiple loan spells with Millwall, Ipswich Town, MK Dons and Preston North End, respectively.

But he now appears to have found a home in the Netherlands and if he continues to score at will, it might not be long before he seals a return to English football where he undeniably has unfinished business.

Speaking to De Telegraaf in the summer, Parrott admitted he felt the time was right to leave Spurs, stating: "It was important for me to go to the Netherlands. I was used to playing football in Ireland and England. It was time for a new environment, a new culture.

"I think AZ is a good place where players get the chance to develop. I have been at Tottenham for a long time, but it was time to move on.”

And when asked if he could ever see himself returning to north London, the young attacker replied: “You never know how things are going to go in football.”

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