Tottenham’s decision to sell £6.7m forward was a mistake, the North London derby proved it

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Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday proved that the club made a mistake in the summer transfer window.

Spurs had reason to be confident ahead of the North London derby as the Gunners were without two of their best players: Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.

Ange Postecoglou’s team selection certainly suggested that he too was feeling confident that his side would win the game.

The Australian opted for an attacking lineup that saw both James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski selected in midfield to create chances for the front three.

And one can argue that this tactic worked because Tottenham outplayed their opponents for much of the game.

The only issue was that Postecoglou’s side were not clinical in the final third and wasted several good opportunities to score.

The Spurs News looks at how the North London derby proved that Tottenham’s decision to sell one of their forwards this summer was a mistake.

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Tottenham’s decision to sell Troy Parrott was a mistake

Troy Parrott joined Tottenham’s academy in 2017 and spent seven years at the club before his departure two months ago.

The Ireland international had loan spells at Millwall, Ipswich Town, MK Dons and Preston North End in England but struggled to make much of an impact.

He had fallen down the pecking order at Spurs but his most recent loan spell at Eredivisie club Excelsior raised eyebrows.

Parrott scored 10 goals in 25 league games for Excelsior and some thought that he earned an opportunity to be part of Postecoglou’s first-team squad for the 2024/25 campaign.

The club had other ideas and sold the forward to another Eredivisie team, AZ Alkmaar, for a £6.7 million transfer fee.

Parrott had not scored for his new club until Saturday but he made amends by putting four goals past Robin van Persie’s Heerenveen.

His phenomenal performance helped AZ to a 9-1 victory the day before Tottenham lost to Arsenal in the North London derby.

Summer signing Dominic Solanke struggled up front against the Gunners and Spurs lacked substitute options to bring on in the second half.

With Richarlison injured, it was the ideal situation to introduce a third-choice striker like Parrott who could have broken the deadlock.

Spurs would have certainly benefitted from one of the fine finishes that the 22-year-old produced yesterday.

Of course, there is no guarantee that Parrott would have performed well for Tottenham but it was a mistake not to at least give him a chance this season.