It was the story that dominated much of West Ham’s summer: The prospective arrival at London Stadium of Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott as a permanent signing seemed at first, far fetched but as the reports grew, so did the substance of the story until most West Ham fans were convinced that the newly relegated Irons stood a clear chance of landing Parrot to spearhead their promotion campaign.
£20 million, even £25 million was suggested as AZ Alkmaar’s price for the forward who had shone on the international stage and would surely do so again in claret and blue: In the end Parrott went to Spain instead and has already embarked on a successful career for Real Betis. West Ham signed Joel Piroe instead and likewise, the striker has already notched two goals for the Hammers.
Was there ever a realistic change of Parrott coming to West Ham? In their article “Why Troy Parrott Picked Seville over West Ham“, livescore.com suggest that neither Parrott nor his club ever saw West Ham as first choice suitors. Firstly on the financial front, West Ham were apparently never at the races:
“However, the deal reportedly hinged on the demand from Alkmaar, who wanted about €18 million up front and another €4 million in add-ons. West Ham were on budgets and this led to a stall in negotiations over what reportedly was as little as €2 million in difference.
This hesitation opened the door for Betis to step in. AZ had effectively agreed to accept any bid that was better than West Ham’s, so Betis just needed to nudge in a little higher.”
In any case, as the report details, Parrott had no intention of coming to England:
“The single biggest factor reportedly for the deal was Parrott wanting to test himself at the highest level of European football. Betis finished in 5th place in La Liga last season, led by former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini. This was the first time in 21 years that Betis qualified for the Champions League….The 24-year-old was adamant that he wanted to play in the Champions League, which is why Betis was chosen. “
Parrott has already fired Betis to victory over Real Madrid
In summary, the lowly second division status of West Ham proved pivotal – unsurprisingly, Parrott had higher ambitions than a gritty 46 game Championship promotion battle and likely never had any intention of coming to Stratford, the moment West Ham’s offer was matched by a club with Champions League football on the table.
“Parrott has played in the Europa and Conference Leagues with Alkmaar, but not the Champions League. Betis were his route to the biggest club competition on the continent, something which West Ham couldn’t offer him.”
And who is to say things haven’t turned out for the best for both player and West Ham. Parrott got his move to Seville and West Ham got a very capable striker in Joel Piroe – with funds left over for Edwin Austbø to boot.
Parrot not coming to England had nothing to do with west ham he left because when he was there his off field activities were destroying his career. His move to Holland was the making of him so he was not in a hurry to come back .as an Irish hammer I would have loved to see him play for us but I’m glad he’s got the right move .good luck Troy.
Good luck to Parrott weve moved on and it doesn’t look bad at the moment.
Should have gone for Largie Ramazani on loan.
So Parrot abd his agents basically used West Ham to secure the desired move to Real Betis
It was initially portrayed as dithering plundering by Nuno / West Ham
I remember John Lyall failing to buy Kerry Dixon and buying Leroy Rosenior instead
It is not always the managers fault