Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Troy Parrott has heaped praise on Jose Mourinho for impacting his development during his time in North London.
Parrott came through the Tottenham academy but struggled to break into the first team.
In fact, he only managed four appearances for Tottenham in a frustrating transition from the youth team to senior football.
He spent the majority of his seven-year spell at Tottenham on loan. He had spells at several Championship clubs, including Millwall, Ipswich Town, and Preston North End.
Parrott’s only somewhat successful loan spell in the English second tier came at Milton Keynes Dons, where he notched 10 goals and seven assists in 43 appearances for the club.
Reinventing himself in the Netherlands
However, his first major breakthrough came when he left England to join Dutch side Excelsior, where he bagged 17 goals and five assists in 32 appearances.
His outstanding performance made him a highly sought-after striker in Eredivisie, and he made a permanent move to AZ Alkmaar in 2024.
The move to Eredivisie gave him the space to develop, and he made an immediate impact at AZ, bagging 20 goals in 47 appearances in his debut campaign.
This season, he has already bettered his tally from last term, with the Irish striker recording 23 goals and six assists in 31 games across all competitions.
Parrott is currently enjoying the best goalscoring spell of his career. He was once talked about as “the next Robbie Keane” and is finally living up to expectations.
Looking back on his time at Tottenham, Parrott revealed that Mourinho played a role in his development as a striker, using club legend Harry Kane as an example he would emulate.
“He made time to try to develop me, which positions to be in, using Harry Kane as a guide,” Parrott said in an interview with The Independent.
“On the pitch, he was [demanding]. Off the pitch, he was a very good character.”