With all the hype that has been surrounding Troy Parrott for the last couple of years, it is often easy to remember that the Dubliner only turned 18-years old in March of this year.
He has only one Premier League appearance under his belt, coming off the bench late on in Spurs' win over Burnley last December. While he has already made his senior international debut, it's fair to say many Irish fans have yet to get a proper look at the forward.
That is set to change in the coming months, with Parrott moving on loan to Millwall for the 2020/21 season. It is the second consecutive season that a promising young Irishman made the move to The Den after Jayson Molumby played there over the last 12 months.
Parrott will be expected to be a major contributor for Millwall this season despite his young age, a challenge he is no doubt relishing.
A huge number of clubs were interested in taking him on loan during the summer, but the player himself ultimately felt that Millwall were the best fit.
Speaking to News At Den, he said that the good feeling he got from manager Gary Rowett was what made up his mind.
I just felt like I could trust him from the start. I had a good gut feeling. I liked the way he explained the way the club worked, how everyone is together and how the team plays.
I kind of bought into it and into him straightaway. That’s really why I made the decision to come to Millwall.
I spoke to Gary probably twice before anything was agreed and I just had that gut feeling that it was the right place for me to go.
I obviously spoke to Jayson Molumby a lot about the club he told me only good things.
The main thing that stands out for me is the type of people that are in the club, the staff and the players. Just little things like making it easy for me to settle in and making me feel welcome was one of the most important things...
I watched last season and I saw how well they did. I don’t see why we can’t push on even more this season and get into those play-off positions.
📸 Troy Parrott's Millwall debut.
⚽️ The young striker scored in Millwall's 5-1 win over Bromley.#THFC #COYS pic.twitter.com/8sG8NLFhcU— TranSPURS (@TranSPURS) August 26, 2020
Parrott was also asked about his relationship with Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, who said last season that the striker had a long way to go before becoming a first team regular at the club.
The Irishman said those were comments he took to be constructive and that he has learned a lot from the Portuguese manager.
To be fair, he’s such an experienced manager and he’s done nearly everything in the game, so if he feels like that’s right then there must be some truth in it and I had to take it on the chin.
I knew I just had to keep my head down in training and keep working hard. And getting this loan now is hopefully going to help me improve and push on.
There were little conversations that were being had [at Spurs]. I was speaking to coaching staff and players finding out what I needed to do to be better. Because obviously Mourinho has worked with some of the best strikers there’s ever been. To get advice off him was great.
I knew what I needed to do. It was helpful advice.
Before lining out for Millwall in the Championship, Parrott will be hoping to make his competitive debut for the Republic of Ireland over the next week or so.
The 18-year old has been included in Stephen Kenny's squad for the UEFA Nations League fixtures against Bulgaria and Finland and is likely to feature at some stage.
