Troy Parrott is enjoying quite the fortnight, and a number of people connected to Tottenham Hotspur may well wish he would stop scoring so many decisive goals. The Republic of Ireland striker, who only recently completed his move to Real Betis, has already made a habit of tormenting his old club's former manager, José Mourinho, now in charge of Real Madrid.
Parrott's rise is laced with irony. It was Mourinho who gave him his senior debut for Spurs back in December 2019, introducing him as a substitute in a 5-0 rout of Burnley. Yet it was also Mourinho who later concluded the teenager wasn't ready for regular first-team football, even when Tottenham were shorn of both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in March 2020. A short outing against Norwich followed before the pandemic brought the campaign to a halt, effectively ending Parrott's time at Spurs in all but name.
What came next was a grinding tour of English loan spells at Millwall, Ipswich Town, MK Dons and Preston North End, none of which sparked the breakthrough many had hoped for. His fortunes turned only after a move to the Netherlands, where a settling period at Excelsior gave way to a prolific run at AZ Alkmaar. There, Parrott scored 51 goals in 97 appearances, a return impressive enough to catch the eye of Real Betis, who paid around £17m for him this past summer. An international hat-trick last year further boosted his growing reputation.
His competitive debut for Betis, however, was far from auspicious — a 5-2 defeat to Levante that left manager Manuel Pellegrini frustrated with his new signing's errors. But Parrott has shown no sign of dwelling on that setback. Introduced as a substitute in the 68th minute against Real Madrid, he reacted fastest when Thibaut Courtois could only parry a shot, prodding the loose ball home from close range to hand Betis a shock win over Mourinho's side.
Reflecting on the goal, Parrott kept things simple. "That's a striker's job," he said. "In a game, I might do this 10 times, and it might not happen. So, it's a mentality thing to just keep on going in there, hoping it comes. Today, it did."
Four days later, Parrott struck again, this time on his European debut for Betis away at Lille. He pounced on a defensive mistake from Nathan Ngoy to slot a low finish into the far corner, helping his side to a thrilling 3-2 victory. In the space of a week, the 24-year-old had scored two decisive goals in two appearances — one against the man who once doubted him, and another on his first outing in continental competition.
Meanwhile, back in England, Tottenham remain mired in the bottom three of the Premier League, still searching for their first league goal of the season — a contrast that has not gone unnoticed by those tracking Parrott's revival.
It would be premature to suggest Spurs made a catastrophic error in letting Parrott go; two goals in two matches do not rewrite history, and his path to this point has been anything but smooth. But there is something satisfying about watching a player once written off by one of the game's most demanding managers finally finding his footing, having taken the long way round to get there.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football.