Tottenham's Troy Parrott has joined Preston North End and will spend the entirety of the 2022-23 season with the Championship side.
For the young striker, it represents a fourth temporary stay away from Spurs. Last season was his most productive spell of the three he has completed so far, with the 20-year-old hitting double figures as MK Dons missed out on promotion in the League One play-offs.
That has opened the door up for a Championship return, this time with the Lilywhites. Parrott's only previous taste of the second tier saw him draw a blank in 11 outings for Millwall. Sandwiched in-between was a spell at Ipswich where he scored twice in 18 games. Add it all up and it is a mixed bag of stints away from London for the Dubliner.
If the tale of a promising Tottenham striker experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions during numerous loan spells sounds familiar then it's because it bears more than a resemblance to the early stages of current Spurs' talisman, Harry Kane.
Kane was loaned out four times over three seasons between 2010 and 2012. He had temporary stays at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester spanning three different divisions. The stints delivered mixed results, much like Parrott's experiences so far, with Kane netting 14 goals in 56 appearances combined.
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He would cite his spell at the Den as being particularly helpful to his career progression, saying: "It was a big part of my development. I had a great time at Millwall, I enjoyed my loan spell there. I was 18 at the time playing in the Championship, we were in a relegation battle and it really turned me into a man. Playing in difficult, high-pressure games and I managed to come out of it positively."
Parrott, who has made four senior outings for his parent club, is now set for his latest adventure and it is a sign of how highly Tottenham rate him that they extended his contract until 2025 prior to sanctioning his Deepdale switch.
He has had warm words spoken in the past by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, who said of the youngster during his spell around the first team in the 2019-20 season.
The former Spurs boss said: "I told him before the game, every time you play with the kids of your age, you have to show your colleagues why you are the privileged one.
"Why you are training in the first-team every day and some of them are not – they are still in the group age, because it was something that he was not doing.
"Every time he was playing with the kids, he was playing with the mentality of 'I shouldn't be here' or 'I am too good to be here' or 'It's not here that I want to play' and this is an educational process that comes."
Parrott has clearly matured since then and will now be looking to build on an impressive season at MK Dons last time out. Speaking after being unveiled by Preston, he said: "I’m buzzing to get going, to come in and see the place, meet the lads and get going really.
"I spoke to the manager first of all. I like the sound of how the team wants to play, they want to create a lot of chances which for me is a no-brainer really, and obviously the Irish boys here also helps."
Parrott could make his North End debut in their league opener at Wigan on Saturday.
