AC Milan are reportedly plotting a move for Republic of Ireland international striker Troy Parrott.
The former Tottenham ace currently plays in the Netherlands with AZ Alkmaar however his exploits at both club and international level have caught the attention of the seven-time European Cup winners, according to the Independent.
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Cash bonanza
Should a move materialise this summer, then Tottenham would also benefit from a tidy cash windfall.
talkSPORT understands that Spurs have a 20 per cent sell-on clause for the 24-year-old.
According to the report, the Serie A giants are looking to sign a new striker this summer with Parrott being a potential option.
AZ Alkmaar are understood to be open to the idea of a sale this summer and are holding out for a fee of around £25million.
Milan are believed to be one of a host of clubs across Europe currently tracking the striker with interest from Fulham as well as La Liga outfit Real Betis and Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
Parrott has been in good goalscoring form since swapping Tottenham for AZ in July 2024 in a £6.7m deal.
He has netted 28 league goals in just 52 appearances for the club and 14 goals in 22 league games this term.
In addition, Parrott has netted four times in the Dutch Cup and nine goals in 13 the UEFA Conference League.
But arguably his most important strikes came in his country’s 2-0 win over Portugal in World Cup qualifying in November.
He then followed it up with a stunning hattrick in a 3-2 win against Hungary a few days later to secure the Republic of Ireland their spot at this summer’s World Cup.
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Parrott’s development
Discussing Parrott’s overall season in the Eredivisie, European football expert Andy Brassell says the Dublin native has coped well with the demands of being AZ’s talisman.
“His overall season has been good. He’s someone who has really coped with being a leading player for a team in AZ who aren’t a huge name internationally, but they’re expected to do things in the Eredivisie now,” Brassell told talkSPORT.com.
“They’re expected to finish in the top four. They’re expected to make a dent in European competition, be that the Conference League or whatever else. They’ve shown that they’re a team of substance.
“They’ve developed some good players in recent years as well. I suppose it’s an interesting thing for Parrott, because you look at him at 24 and you wonder where the next move is really.
“I guess with someone like him it’s quite difficult to quantify up-and-coming players in the Eredivisie and work out how good they are or how good they would be in a top five league.
“The truth is you’re probably only going to know once you actually take the plunge and buy them.”
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Brassell continued: “But I think there’s a little bit of snobbery around Troy Parrott. A, because he couldn’t get in the Tottenham team and make any meaningful contribution in the Premier League. B, because of the Football League loans. But he’s someone who I think has really developed around there.
“If you look at the assist against Heracles, he’s got two assists and a goal as well. But we’re both thinking about the same assist where it’s almost as if time stops.
“He chests, takes it over the head of the defender and then plays the ball through. It’s almost like Paul Gascoigne against Scotland style and puts the ball through.
“That is a guy playing with really high confidence,” he added. “I don’t think you can really separate what he’s doing at club level from what he’s doing at international level because Ireland desperately need him at the moment.
“They’ve got loads of issues with fitness for front players. Of course, there was a speculation about David McGoldrick maybe even getting recalled.”
“But it just tells you that Ireland are going to be leaning on Troy Parrott more than ever. I think he’s at such an interesting point because bear in mind he’s 24.
“He’s almost too old for a Premier League club to take a part with him, which sounds ridiculous.
“But when you look at the market for proper superstar strikers who are really proven and really prolific like [Viktor] Gyokeres and [Victor] Osimhen, who were a couple of years older than him last summer, the fact that no Premier League club felt comfortable piecing together a deal for Osmihen, it took ages for Arsenal to get where they wanted to get Viktor Gyokeres.
“And the sense that slightly PSR-related Premier League clubs would rather buy young players who’ve got resale value and are on lower wages.
“It kind of asks you where does Troy Parrott sit? Does that mean a club that weren’t necessarily expecting to get promoted to the Premier League who are trying to stay up?
“Is that the sort of club that gets him? Or is it a club that’s mid-table in the Bundesliga? Is it a Serie A club?
“You look at the fact that British players have done really well there over the last couple of years, particularly Scottish players.
“So maybe Irish players are the next. Obviously Evan Ferguson has had some mixed experiences at Roma so far, part of those to do with fitness issues. So I’m really interested to see where Troy Parrott goes after this season. It wouldn’t shock me if he was still at AZ this time next year.”
