TROY PARROTT appears to be settling in well at AZ Alkmaar – with a fan gifting him an inflatable parrot after Saturday’s match.
The Irish striker had started their 1-0 victory over NEC at his club’s AFAS stadium.
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Upon the final whistle he and teammates did a walk around the ground to thank the home support.
All standard enough really until one fan caught the Dubliner’s eye as he then duly tossed the novel gift his way.
Parrott happily held up his avatar to much cheering from the crowd.
The 22-year-old has bolstered his reputation since making his first foray into Dutch football on loan at Excelsior last campaign.
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His 17 goals ultimately weren’t enough to help them stave off relegation.
But that haul was sufficient to earn him his €8million switch to the two-time league winners.
As well as playing in the fifth-best league in Europe — according to Uefa — he will also play in Europe this term with AZ going straight into the Europa League group stage.
Earlier this week SunSport’s Owen Cowzer argued in his column that Parrott, Adam Idah and Evan Ferguson have turned into the brightest crop of young strikers Ireland have had in some time.
Idah, too, will be playing in Europe as Celtic look forward to the Champions League.
Similarly on loan last season, he joined permanently for £8.5m this week.
He will hope to become Celtic’s regular starter having come on as sub in twice as many games as he started during the loan stint, just as had been the case at Norwich.
Ferguson at Brighton misses the start of the season as he returns from injury, though his stock is expected to continue to rise.
An older forward, though newer at international level, is 28-year-old Sammie Szmodics.
He has joined Premier League newcomers Ipswich as a reward for his 33 goals for Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers last season and three in two games already this term.
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And Heimir Hallgrimsson will watch Leicester’s Tom Cannon closely after he made his Ireland senior bow against Portugal in June.
What it means is the new Ireland gaffer can pick two strikers playing in Europe and three playing in the Premier League.
Compared to 2019 when those selected were at the wrong end of the Prem and the wrong end of the Championship, there are grounds for optimism again.
What turned out to be Mick McCarthy’s final Ireland squad contained six strikers from Sheffield United, Luton, Stoke, Preston and Tottenham Hotspur.
The two at Bramall Lane — Callum Robinson and David McGoldrick — were playing in the Premier League.