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St Patrick’s Athletic star Mason Melia has signed for Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur. He has departed the Incihore club for a League of Ireland record sale of €1.9 million rising to €4 million with adds on.

The former St Joseph Boys striker has smashed the League of Ireland record sale becoming the first player in the league's history to be sold for an initial fee of over €1 million with St Pats also having a 20% sell on clause in the deal.

Spurs have beaten off serious interest from Premier League rivals Manchester City, Chelsea, Everton. Celtic and Bayer Leverkusen were also heavily linked. Man City attempted to sign Melia last summer and send him to affiliate club Lommel SK in Belgium until he was 18 but the player preferred the option of playing in the League of Ireland.

The 2024 PFAI Young Player of the Year will stay at St Pats until January 2026 meaning he will play the full season with Pat’s who are favorites to win the League of Ireland and will compete in the Conference League qualifiers.

Melia has scored 10 goals in 54 appearances across all competitions for St Pat’s and made history as the youngest-ever goalscorer in the League of Ireland when he netted against UCD in June 2023.

Melia, who hails from County Wicklow, started off at Newtown Juniors before moving to St Joseph’s Boys, who will both also benefit from any moves in the future.

The news was confirmed by the Tottenham Hotspur academy as well as by St Pats.

Melia will join former St Patricks Athletic player Josh Keeley in the Spurs family, though Keeley is currently on loan with Leyton Orient.

Spurs fans on social media were pretty excited by the move.

The official League of Ireland launch is tomorrow at Dublin's Mansion House, and it will be fascinating to get the thoughts of Stephen Kenny on the move.

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It looks as though Troy Parrott's time at Spurs is about to draw to a close, with the Irishman on the verge of joining Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.

The Dubliner joined the Premier League side back in 2017, arriving in North London with massive expectations. The hype around Parrott only continued to build with his exploits in the Spurs youth teams, going on to make his Premier League debut as a 17-year old.

However, he would never manage to nail down a spot in the first team squad. Loan spells at the likes of Millwall, Ipswich Town, and Preston North End would follow, experiencing varying levels of success at each.

His career looked in danger of stalling just 12 months ago, although he would find his feet against after joining Excelsior Rotterdam. His tally of 17 goals and five assists last season was enough to draw the interest of a number of clubs this summer, with AZ Alkmaar now winning the race for his signature.

In saying that, quite a few Spurs fans have been complaining over one aspect of the deal.

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Spurs Fans Not Impressed With One Aspect Of Troy Parrott's Move

Spurs will receive a fee of €8million for Troy Parrott, a reasonable amount considering that he was unlikely to be part of Ange Postecoglou's plans and had just 12 months remaining on his contract.

However, quite a few of the club's supporters seem unhappy with the transfer fee. Considering his form last season in the Eredivisie, they were hoping that Spurs could recoup a bit more money for the sale of the Ireland international.

The fee received by Spurs does seem pretty fair considering the player's contract situation, although considering he is a proven performer in the Dutch league, they might have been hoping for a slightly bigger amount from a club in that country.

Looking at Troy Parrott's age and track record in the Netherlands, you would have high hopes that he will be a success at AZ Almkaar. He will also have the opportunity to play in European competition this season, with the club having qualified for the Europa League after their fourth-placed finish in the 2023/24 campaign.

It is certainly an exciting move.

On the back of a stellar loan campaign at Excelsior Rotterdam last time out, it will be important for Troy Parrott to maintain that momentum as he heads into the 2024/25 season over the coming months.

The Dubliner's career had looked in danger of stagnating in recent years, becoming an afterthought at Spurs and experiencing mixed results during his various loan spells in the EFL. However, his time in the Netherlands has reversed this trend.

Parrott thrived in the Erdevisie, scoring 17 goals and registering five assists for Excelsior. While the club would ultimately relegated via the play-offs, it was a massively impressive campaign for the forward from a personal prospective.

He must now choose his next move wisely. Some had expected that he would be given an opportunity to stake his claim for a place at Spurs next season, although that looks unlikely as things stand.

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Troy Parrott Not Training With Spurs Amid Rumours Of Dutch Bid

Spurs returned to pre-season training in recent days, with their squad members not currently on international duty reporting to the club's case to get preparations for next season underway.

Troy Parrott was among that group.

However, it seems as though he has not been taking part in group sessions with the rest of the squad.

He was not listed among the first team and academy prospects that took part in training released by Football London this week. The Irishman also did not appear in any of the official training images or clips shared by the club.

The reasons for that are unclear, with it being possible that some sort of injury prevented him from taking part.

In saying that, well connected Spurs reporter Paul O'Keefe has said on Twitter that while the reasons for Parrott's absence have not been confirmed, it could be down to a pending bid from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.

It has previously been reported that a number of Dutch clubs were interested in signing Troy Parrott this summer on the back of his performances with Excelsior, with the likes of Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, and AZ Alkmaar all linked.

The comments from Paul O'Keefe would suggest that AZ's interest is the most concrete as things stand, with the groundwork perhaps being laid ahead of a potential bid over the coming days or weeks.

Parrott recently spoke about how he felt that Dutch league was better suited to his skillset than the English game, something that will likely influence his decision when choosing his next club.

After making quite a progress last season, he will be keen to build upon those successes once the new campaign kicks off later this summer.