Parrott loan only first of many loan decision Tottenham Hotspur must make
By Aaron Coe
The loan of Troy Parrott to MK Dons is only the first of many decisions Tottenham Hotspur needs to make on some promising young players regarding where they will play this season.
With Tottenham Hotspur being linked with back-ups for Harry Kane and Troy Parrott playing third-string before Kane even arrives at N17, a loan was kind of a no-brainer for Parrott. The Republic of Ireland international is just the first of many young, promising, players Nuno Espirito Santo and Tottenham Hotspur must make decisions about.
What are the choices available to Tottenham?
The club has at minimum eight players that they need to make decisions about regarding the next stage of development. Tottenham has the U-23 team and Premier League 2 available, however, loans are something different.
A loan typically gives these players experience playing first-team football at whatever level they are loaned. Whereas the youth and academy teams are still developmental, the competition on loan is usually real and experience can be invaluable, ask Harry Kane.
There is of course the third path, that at least three if not more of our eight players may follow, which is to play in the Tottenham first team. Whether or not the first team is the best choice or not depends as much on the needs of the club as it does on the player’s development. Two examples of this would be Japhet Tanganga and Troy Parrott in the last couple of seasons.
Neither Parrott nor Tanganga has gotten regular playing time with the first team, yet both have been kept around for depth at different points over the last couple of seasons. While having them was a luxury and even at times a necessity for the club, it was likely at the detriment of their growth when they could be racking up major minutes and experience elsewhere.
Such is the dilemma that Tottenham and others face as they think about the needs of the first team, today and tomorrow. So here are our eight players that Spurs need to make loan decisions on starting with the person most likely to stay and contribute, Oliver Skipp.