Football.London

Troy Parrott has left Tottenham Hotspur to join AZ Alkmaar in a £6.7million deal with the north London club inserting a 20% sell-on clause into the transfer, football.london understands.

The 22-year-old Republic of Ireland international has agreed a five-year contract with the Eredivisie side as part of the €8million (£6.7million) transfer from Spurs following a season spent on loan in the Netherlands, the striker netting 17 goals for struggling Excelsior Rotterdam as they slipped to relegation from the Dutch top flight.

Parrott joined Tottenham back in 2017 as a 15-year-old from Irish side Belvedere and despite plenty of high hopes for his ability he was only able to make four appearances for the first team. He spent five loan spells away from the club at Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston with varying degrees of success in the Football League until that loan in the Eredivisie with Excelsior last season really kicked on his career.

The young striker has also made 23 senior appearances for the Republic of Ireland, scoring five goals for his country. Tottenham negotiated a 20% sell-on clause into the transfer as they believe Parrott could continue to flourish in the Netherlands and develop, which means that either they could get a chunk of any future sale of the player or buy him back themselves in the future for a cut-price rate.

Parrott had been desperate to break through at Tottenham and the fact that he can be registered as club-trained by the north London outfit means a future return to N17 if his career explodes would not be out of the question.

For now, though, he is not part of Ange Postecoglou's plans and his move comes in the same week that Spurs handed 19-year-old striker Will Lankshear a five-year deal with the teenager set to follow Parrott's early path in heading out on loan this season to continue his development.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham. Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Troy Parrott is set to seal a move from Tottenham Hotspur to Dutch side AZ worth £6.7million to end seven years at the north London club.

The 22-year-old Republic of Ireland international was in the Netherlands on Friday putting the finishing touches to his 8million euros move to Alkmaar. Parrott joined Tottenham as a youngster from Belvedere but only made four appearances for the club at a senior level, amid loan moves at Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston with varying degrees of success until a loan in the Eredivisie with Excelsior Rotterdam this season really sparked his development.

Parrott scored 17 goals in the Netherlands last season and AZ quickly moved themselves to the front of the queue to keep the striker in the country. However, it took some time to agree a deal with Tottenham but that now has been done with the player given permission to travel to complete his side of things.

Our Tottenham correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest discuss the young striker's move in the latest episode of their podcast Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham, with Alasdair explaining that when he was a teenager, Parrott was described by coaches within the club as being the best finisher in the place with his ability to put his shots into the corners of the net. Now he will be looking to do that near the top of the Eredivisie table for AZ.

The duo also discussed the chaotic scenes following Uruguay's Copa America semi-final defeat to Colombia with Rodrigo Bentancur involved and the subsequent CONMEBOL investigation into the events.

You can listen to the podcast episode by heading right here or you watch the show on YouTube by going right here or watching below.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham. Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Bayern Munich have had a proposal worth over £29million rejected for Rennes starlet Desire Doue as per Fabrizio Romano, which could leave the door open for Tottenham Hotspur to prize the 19-year-old to north London.

The Frenchman has been subject to waves of transfer speculation after impressing in Ligue 1 last season - he made 10 goal contributions in 43 domestic appearances last season.

Manchester United and Arsenal are thought to be monitoring the player but Spurs are reported to most interested by the prospect.

Doue is a French international at Under-17s, Under-19s, and Under-21s levels, featuring in warm-up clashes for Thierry Henry’s French Olympic squad, mostly made up of players under the age of 23 - whether the tournament may delay a potential transfer is not yet known.

The prospect is traditionally a left winger but can switch into central positions when required. Ange Postecoglou is on the hunt for a left-sided midfielder, his side has been linked with Wolves’ Pedro Neto and Nico Williams - the winger has had an exceptional UEFA Euro 2024 and will be subject to further speculation after Sunday’s final in Berlin.

Spurs fans should expect an exciting, skillful player if Doue is to choose Postecoglou’s side as his preferred destination. The youngster explained his admiration for Lionel Messi and Neymar in an Interview with One Football, he said: "I drew a lot of inspiration from them. They were two players who were at the top of their game when I was a teenager. They made me dream!"

He continued, explaining his style of play: "I think you know, I like to dribble. I'd have to say it's the step-over! It's effective and elegant at the same time. You can really destabilise an opponent, so it's a move I like a lot. I wouldn't say I've got both feet, but I'm comfortable with both and that helps me to do this type of move."

Bayern Munich have had a proposal worth over £29million rejected for Rennes starlet Desire Doue as per Fabrizio Romano, which could leave the door open for Tottenham Hotspur to prize the 19-year-old to north London.

The Frenchman has been subject to waves of transfer speculation after impressing in Ligue 1 last season - he made 10 goal contributions in 43 domestic appearances last season.

Manchester United and Arsenal are thought to be monitoring the player but Spurs are reported to most interested by the prospect.

Doue is a French international at Under-17s, Under-19s, and Under-21s levels, featuring in warm-up clashes for Thierry Henry’s French Olympic squad, mostly made up of players under the age of 23 - whether the tournament may delay a potential transfer is not yet known.

The prospect is traditionally a left winger but can switch into central positions when required. Ange Postecoglou is on the hunt for a left-sided midfielder, his side has been linked with Wolves’ Pedro Neto and Nico Williams - the winger has had an exceptional UEFA Euro 2024 and will be subject to further speculation after Sunday’s final in Berlin.

Spurs fans should expect an exciting, skillful player if Doue is to choose Postecoglou’s side as his preferred destination. The youngster explained his admiration for Lionel Messi and Neymar in an Interview with One Football, he said: "I drew a lot of inspiration from them. They were two players who were at the top of their game when I was a teenager. They made me dream!"

He continued, explaining his style of play: "I think you know, I like to dribble. I'd have to say it's the step-over! It's effective and elegant at the same time. You can really destabilise an opponent, so it's a move I like a lot. I wouldn't say I've got both feet, but I'm comfortable with both and that helps me to do this type of move."

Ange Postecoglou will be naming his first Tottenham starting XI of the season on Saturday in an unofficial behind-closed-doors friendly against Cambridge United.

football.london reported earlier this week that Spurs will be welcoming the League One side to their Hotspur Way training complex in Enfield in order to give both sides their first game time of pre-season. The match, which will kick off at midday, is not an official friendly and will only take place in front of a handful of club staff as if it were a training session.

That is why it will not be shown on the club channels live, although some aspects of the game could be pushed out after the event in terms of a report and images. Often behind-closed-doors friendlies are more fragmented than official ones, with such training ground games regularly split into three 30-minute segments in order to give players differing lengths of playing time depending on their varying fitness levels and the coaches more opportunities to speak to and work with the players.

Postecoglou will have to decide which players are at the fitness levels required to take on a contact game at this point. New signings Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall will likely get their first minutes in a Tottenham shirt as the Australian takes a good look at how they - the Swede especially - cope with the demands of his system against the Football League opposition.

The Spurs boss will have to make decisions on those players coming back from injury such as Manor Solomon, the returning Timo Werner and Destiny Udogie over whether they are at a stage yet physically to be thrust into a game situation, while captain Son Heung-min returned a couple of days later than the group because of his later international commitments.

Postecoglou will have to decide whether players who are likely to leave this summer like Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon will also take part. Troy Parrott will not be present as he is set to complete a £6.7million move to AZ Alkmaar. Youngsters like Mikey Moore, Tyrese Hall, Jamie Donley and George Abbott could all be involved despite the Under-21s playing an official friendly on Saturday afternoon at Enfield Town (3pm kick-off) as they have been part of the first team squad this week.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin and Guglielmo Vicario are not back at Hotspur Way yet, having been involved for their countries at Euro 2024 while Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo Bentancur have been in action at the Copa America in the USA.

Postecoglou has decisions to make in central defence as with all of those players absent at the Euros or Copa America, he has only one fit natural centre-back in 19-year-old Ashley Phillips, which means full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal could fill in in the middle of defence as they did last season.

Cambridge finished 18th in League One last season and will provide a test from a fitness aspect after starting their pre-season almost a week before the Tottenham players.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham. Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

James Maddison has backed England to win the Euro 2024 final against Spain after having missed out on selection for the tournament in Germany.

Maddison was called up to the Three Lions training squad for friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland last month after scoring four goals and adding nine assists in 30 matches during his debut campaign at Tottenham. However, after playing 29 minutes in the 3-0 win over Bosnia, Maddison was brutally cut from the squad ahead of the game against Iceland as Gareth Southgate named his final 26-man squad.

Following his snub from the England squad, Maddison decided to take some time away and went on holiday. He was pictured away with his close mates on Instagram before posting a photo of him beside a pool wearing a retro Spurs shirt with 'Gascoigne 8' on the back.

Now, Maddison has returned to England and is back training with his Tottenham team-mates as they begin their pre-season campaign. Despite the disappointment etched on Maddison after not being included in the squad for Euro 2024, he is backing the Three Lions to beat Spain and lift their first major trophy since 1966. England booked their place in the final after beating the Netherlands 2-1 on Wednesday.

The Tottenham media team asked Maddison and the rest of the squad who will win the Euro 2024 final on Sunday, to which the former Leicester midfielder replied: "England of course, it's coming home."

Timo Werner said: "Oh difficult. I think England." Pape Matae Sarr added: "England I think." Emerson Royal believes Spain will get over the line and win it, while Archie Gray is adamant the Three Lions will win 2-1.

Lucas Bergvall claimed: "I think England will win but it's going to be a tough game. Spain has been really good this Euros but I think in the end England will win."

After Maddison missed out on being included in the England squad last month, he posted a heartfelt message on Instagram displaying his sadness. He wrote: "Devastated doesn’t quite cut it. Trained well and worked hard all week but if I’m honest with myself, my form for Spurs when coming back from injury in the second half of the season probably wasn’t at the levels I had set which gave Gareth a decision to make.

"I still thought there would be a space for me in a 26-man squad as I feel I bring something different & had been a mainstay in this whole qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany but the manager has made the decision and I have to respect that. I’ll be back, I have no doubt. Wishing the boys all the luck in the world out in Germany, unbelievable group and lads that I literally call some of my best friends. I genuinely hope football comes home."

Rodrigo Bentancur has been named among 11 Uruguay players after disciplinary investigations were opened following the ugly scenes after the Copa America semi-final against Colombia.

Uruguay fell to a 1-0 defeat in a fiery semi-final in Charlotte this week, with Bentancur forced off in the first half of the game with an injury following a collision with his own team-mate Mathias Olivera as both attempted a sliding tackle. Jefferson Lerma scored what would be the winning goal soon not long the Spurs player's exit from the pitch.

However, the game has now been overshadowed by what happened after the final whistle. Amid claims from the Uruguayan players that their families were being caught up near out of control supporters from the two countries, some of the Uruguay squad, including Liverpool's Darwin Nunez, jumped into the stands amid the trouble.

Down on the pitch, footage appeared to then show Bentancur hurl a bottle from the touchline into the crowd, which seemed to fly near a female Uruguayan fan and strike the forehead of Uruguay fitness coach Santiago Ferro who had climbed up into the stands. Another angle showed a bottle smashing against Ferro's head, cutting it open with blood smeared across his forehead as he was taken away for medical attention. The coach was photographed the following day at the squad's training camp with a scar across his right temple.

A second video then appeared to show Bentancur throwing another object into the crowd before the midfielder was ushered away by staff members. It was reported that the players' families were escorted out of the stadium through a different exit to ensure their safety.

Now CONMEBOL have sent documents to the Uruguay Football Association with the names of 11 players who they are investigating with video evidence.

Uruguayan journalist Rodrigo Romano reported on Friday: "Around 8pm, AUF received the documents that have the 11 names of the players who participated in the final episodes for CONMEBOL. The documents contain the names, number in the competition and the cause attributed to them for the purposes of dealing with the sanctions to be determined.

"The 11 players are Jose Maria Gimenez, Sebastian Caceres, Ronald Araujo, Rodrigo Bentancur, Facundo Pellistri, Mathias Olivera, Matias Vina, Brain Rodriguez, Darwin Nunez, Emiliano Martinez, Santiago Mele. Each of the players' names is accompanied by film evidence and the reason for which a disciplinary file is opened.

"The AUF will have until next Wednesday (July 17) to present their defences in writing. After that day, a period will begin for CONMEBOL to study and resolve whether or not to sanction each of the aforementioned players. There are no preventive sanctions, so these players are fit to play on Saturday against Canada.

"The corresponding penalties must be served in the 2026 Qualifiers matches, starting next September when, during the resumption, Uruguay will host Paraguay and then visit Venezuela. There may also be a financial fine if deemed appropriate."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham featuring lots of chat on pre-season so far, click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Troy Parrott has travelled to the Netherlands to complete a medical with AZ Alkmaar after Tottenham agreed to let the striker move on this summer.

The 22-year-old Republic of Ireland international netted 17 goals and laid on five assists on loan at 16th-placed Excelsior across the campaign, including two hat-tricks in the play-off stages of the Dutch leagues which decided whether the team from the Eredivisie would drop down or another side from the second division would come up from the Eerste Divisie.

football.london have long reported that AZ were the keenest club on signing Parrott and now they are close to finally sealing a deal worth around 8million euros (£6.7million) for the striker, who was unable to work his way into Ange Postecoglou's plans.

More to follow...

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham featuring lots of chat on pre-season so far, click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Tottenham Hotspur will be gunning for the top four when the new Premier League season kicks off. Having started the 2023/24 season so well, Spurs fell away somewhat and could only finish fifth in the end and a place in the Europa League.

Ange Postecoglou's side started the season like a house on fire, unbeaten in their opening ten matches of the campaign. But injuries, suspensions and international commitments hit the side hard and despite challenging for the top four all the way to the end of the campaign, they just came up short.

Aston Villa were the side to pip them to fourth spot, securing Champions League football under Unai Emery. Both sides will be eagerly awaiting the two European draws for the newly-expanded competitions this season.

Villa will want to show the Premier League that it is not a one-off, with the club bound to be going for the Champions League once again when the 2024/25 season kicks off.

But Emery may be hamstrung by what is going on behind the scenes. Villa were one of a number of clubs who needed to balance the books this summer in order to comply with Financial Fair Play and Profit and Sustainability Rules.

They have already signed six players - Ross Barkley, Ian Maatsen and Cameron Archer chief among them - but have also said goodbye to four - Philippe Coutinho going on loan to Vasco da Gama, Tim Iroegbunam to Everton, Morgan Sanson to Nice and the big one, Douglas Luiz to Juventus.

Luiz was one of Villa's standout players last season, and losing him leaves a massive hole in the side, which could hit their hopes of a Champions League place next time around.

And another deal could further knock Villa back. Reports have suggested that Al Ittihad are ready to stump up £60million to sign Moussa Diaby this summer, with the player already having agreed person terms.

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Diaby is another who was an important member of Emery's first team last season and big changes will be mde to the starting XI for this coming season. That could play into Tottenham's hands in the race for a top four spot, although there is plenty of time for Villa to add to their squad before the season begins.

There is also plenty of time for Spurs to make big changes to their squad, which is seen as necessary by Postecoglou as he looks to strengthen ahead of the new campaign. Timo Werner, Lucas Bergvall and Archie gray havwe all already arrived in N17 this summer.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham. Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Netherlands defender Denzel Dumfries has shouldered the blame for the contentious penalty given to England.

However, the full-back has insisted that he barely touched the former Tottenham Hotspur forward. The Netherlands were left in shock when a penalty was awarded to the Three Lions during their semi-final after a VAR review.

Dumfries had tried to intercept a Kane attempt and the Bayern Munich player's reaction on the ground allowed time for the incident to be scrutinised. Although the England captain seemed to make contact with Dumfries while attempting to shoot, the initial consensus was that it wouldn't result in a penalty.

However, the referee consulted the pitch-side monitor and decided to award the spot-kick, enabling England to level the score. The Inter Milan defender admitted he anticipated the outcome as soon as the referee opted for a second look.

He said: “I want to block the shot. I barely touch him. I do think [it’s a VAR penalty]. You know when he goes to the sideline, he can give it. I take full responsibility."

Dutch boss Ronald Koeman fumed: "In my opinion it should not have been a penalty. He kicked the ball and the boots touched. I think that we cannot play properly football and this is due to VAR. It really breaks football."

While Virgil van Dijk said: "I don’t know what to say, I don’t know if I should say something about this. But I think it says it all that the referee went in quite quickly after the game, had no time to shake his hand."