Tottenham stand to benefit from Troy Parrott transfer as three-way battle emerges

Ex-Tottenham striker Troy Parrott has responded to speculation linking him with a return to the Premier League

Tottenham are set to benefit as the battle to sign Ireland's World Cup qualifying hero Troy Parrott hots up.

The striker, who came through the ranks at Spurs, left for AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2024 in the quest for regular first-team football. He has achieved that in the Netherlands, where he is enjoying a prolific season with 25 goals for club and country.

He recently scored a hat-trick as AZ battered Ajax 6-0 in the KNVB Cup. In November, he single-handedly fired Ireland into the World Cup play-offs with five goals in two games in wins over Portugal and Hungary, including a sensational hat-trick in the latter.

His exploits have naturally attracted attention from a host of clubs. Fulham, Wolfsburg and Real Betis have shown the most interest, reports the Independent.

That potentially opens the door to a bidding war that could swell the coffers at Spurs, who inserted a 20 per cent sell-on clause when they sold Parrott for £6.7m, as revealed by football.london. Parrott's desire to return to the Premier League one day puts Fulham in pole position.

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However, a move to Germany may also appeal, given the Bundesliga's record for developing players. A fee of £17.4m has been mooted by Wolfsburg, although AZ are said to be holding out for me. A fee of £20m, say, would net Spurs £4m.

Meanwhile, Parrott has shrugged off speculation surrounding his future, telling ESPN he is committed to AK. He said: "My mind is here, this club has done so much for me. It's about trying to contribute as best as I can to help the club.

"We’re in a really difficult spot, my mind is fully focused on being here and trying to help the club through this difficult time."

However, it's clear Parrott is growing frustrated with AZ's inconsistency. Following their destruction of Ajax, they lost 3-1 to PEC Zwolle before being held 1-1 at home by Excelsior on Wednesday, leaving them seventh in the Eredivisie table.

Parrott, who scored AZ's goal, said: "It's the same story it seems week after week now. We’re in a really tough spot as a club as a team, and it’s on all of us to try and turn it around. The feeling is not there in the team, the fighting spirit is not there for 90 minutes and this is a problem.

"You can have it for 60 or 70 minutes but you switch off for a moment and you concede a goal, it’s one point instead of three. We’re not creating many chances.

"We played Ajax, we created chances and we won 6-0. Then PEC and then [Excelsior] and we didn’t. The consistency is not there. It’s up to all of us in the dressing room. The last seven or eight games has not been good at all."