Robbie Keane: Tottenham must be careful with Troy Parrott | OneFootball

Troy Parrott is widely regarded as one of Tottenham’s hottest prospects but Robbie Keane has pleaded his former side to not rush his development.

This past season, Parrott banged in 15 goals in just 12 games with the Spurs in the U-18 Premier League and netted four goals in as many games with the Ireland U-19s.

In an interview with the Irish Times, Keane described how he feels about the 17-year-old after traveling to London to meet up with him.

“We have to be careful with Troy Parrott,” Keane told the Irish Times.

“A couple of us here have to be careful not to pigeonhole him with being the next me and all of that. He’s him. He’s Troy Parrott so we have to let him develop as a young player.

“Has he got ability? Absolutely. I speak to (Mauricio) Pochettino all the time and he loves him. Jésus (Perez) the assistant manager loves him.

“He definitely has potential but then he’s what? 17. . just turned 17; I know I got thrown in at 17 but he’s still young and he’s had a lot of attention.

“People at Tottenham love him,” he continued, “he’s a lovely lad, he definitely has the mentality, he has everything so he certainly has a chance but it’s up to him.

“When we took the job over I had an hour with him at the Tottenham training ground.

“I went over and had lunch with him, just wanted to have a chat with him, see where he was.

“He definitely has the right temperament to be a top player and like I say the manager speaks very highly of him.

“He’s got a chance so, when the opportunity comes for him he needs to take it.

“We need him to develop, to keep scoring goals, I know he did for the 23s last season and then he got injured but we need him to keep progressing, keep developing, keep watching, keep learning, keep listening, keep speaking to Harry Kane, watch what he does, what his movement.

“As a young kid, I used to do it myself, watch the top players because you can learn a lot from them.”

Parrott also scored five goals in Premier League 2 and Uefa Youth League competition.