Troy Parrott making a name for himself in Europe as Tottenham youngster draws Serie A interest

The fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur's loan players have been decidedly mixed this season but Troy Parrott can certainly be placed in the category marked 'resounding success' so far.

The Dubliner, currently earning plaudits in the Eredivisie at Excelsior Rotterdam, will turn 22 in just over a fortnight's time and it feels like a lifetime ago when he arrived at Spurs from Irish side Belvedere as a fresh-faced 15-year-old. The north London club had looked at Parrott during extended trials in the year before and then fended off competition from a number of Premier League clubs for a teenager dubbed 'the next Robbie Keane' by those in his homeland after netting large numbers of goals throughout the youth levels.

Spurs moved him into their U18 team in the second half of that first season despite only being 16. Parrott scored in his second match, against Fulham, but the club were careful to not push him too far up the levels too quickly. The next season they couldn't keep a lid on the excitement around the player as he netted 14 goals in nine games for their U21s and scored three goals in five matches in the UEFA Youth League.

That competition is the youth version of the Champions League and Parrott netted against PSV Eindhoven, Inter and Barcelona in consecutive matches as more and more clubs across Europe began taking notice of him. Still so young, he was given some game time for the U21s, grabbing an assist in his first match at Liverpool and netting twice against at Swansea as his first season came to a close. A couple of months before he had signed his first professional contract with the club.

Still only 17, Parrott was selected by Mauricio Pochettino to be part of the first team squad's tour to Singapore and Shanghai that