BORUSSIA DORTMUND are ready to battle it out with arch-rivals Bayern Munich to sign Tottenham youngster Troy Parrott, according to reports.
The striker is seen as one of the most exciting teenage prospects in Europe and signed his first professional contract on his 17th birthday in February.
Dortmund took teenager Jadon Sancho from Manchester City in 2017 and the England winger’s development in Germany has been clear to see, not least for Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.
Plenty of other young players have left Premier League clubs for Germany over recent years to great success.
So the chance to take on Parrott and do something similar would no doubt appeal to Lucien Favre as his side look to capitalise on Bayern’s uncertainty over the managerial situation with Hans-Dieter Flick remaining in interim charge.
But according to the Express, giants Real Madrid and Juventus are also monitoring Parrott’s situation and could try to lure him away from North London.
Parrott arrived at Spurs from Irish side Belvedere two years ago and was incredibly popular with former boss Mauricio Pochettino.
He featured in pre-season alongside Harry Kane and made his presence known in the Uefa Youth League with five goals in three appearances – plus an assist against Bayern.
The forward made his first-team debut in the Carabao Cup defeat to Colchester and was on the bench for the 1-1 draw with Everton at the beginning of November.
IRELAND INTERNATIONAL
He had done enough to convince Mick McCarthy to hand him his senior Republic of Ireland debut.
Parrott started for the Irish in their 3-1 friendly win over New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium last week.
He did not come on in the crucial clash with Denmark meaning he dropped down to play with the Under-21s in their win over Sweden on Tuesday.
And it was on the pitch at full-time after the win over the Swedes that Parrott was informed of Spurs’ decision to sack Poch.
The Argentine was replaced less than 12 hours later by Jose Mourinho, who won his first game in charge against West Ham yesterday.
For all his success and silverware in his career, one criticism of Mourinho has been his reluctance to give youth a chance.
So immediately suggestions that Parrott may need to leave – either permanently or on loan – to progress his career surfaced, with interest from around Europe.
Jose, though, was quick to set out his stall after being unveiled as the new Spurs boss by commenting on the club’s exciting academy.
He said: I really like this squad. Of course, I’m not going to say names, I’m not going to tell you individuals because this is completely against my concept of what a team has to be, but I like a lot the ability of the squad.
There is not one manager in the world who does not like to play young players and help young players to evolve, there is not one.
The problem is sometimes you get into clubs and the work that is below you is not good enough to produce these players, but when you have them, the managers are always happy to develop these players.
I look to our history and you see that the academy is always giving the talent the first team needs. Of course, I also look forward to work with that profile.
