Ex-Leeds United and England full-back Danny Mills has urged Tottenham Hotspur's Troy Parrott to leave on-loan next season.

Parrott, 18, is one of the most highly-anticipated talents in the Premier League. The Spurs man made his debut under Jose Mourinho earlier in the season, a month after earning his first senior cap for the Irish national team.

Last January he was linked with a loan move away from the club for the remainder of the season, and both QPR and Charlton Athletic emerged as favourites to land him.

Mark Warburton was dealt a huge blow in the final week of the winter transfer window when Nahki Wells was recalled from his loan spell at the club, and Charlton were suffering terribly from injuries, and they too were looking for numbers.

But neither could land Parrott - Mourinho made a U-turn and decided that the striker would remain at White Hart Lane.

Speaking to Football Insider, Mills insisted that Parrott must find first-team experience next season, and that he won't get it at Spurs:

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"He is getting excellent development at a massive club but once you have got beyond that and you are good enough to be in the first-team somewhere there is no substitute for playing football. He needs to be brave and accept it is not going to happen this season."

Mourinho isn't a manager famed for his work with young players, in fact, he's a reputation for not favouring them. Parrott then has been lucky to get this far under Mourinho, but as Mills said, that experience will only get so far.

“You can only learn so much in training," he continued. "It's about having to make decisions that matter. Decisions don't matter at under-23 level. They don’t cost people their jobs, three points, win bonuses, or relegation.

“It is going from a child’s world into an adult world. Suddenly your decisions have far greater consequences.”

Spurs have a host of bright, young talents in their squad and Parrott is one of the standouts. It's hard to grasp how good he actually is at this stage, but to be a full international before he'd made his club debut is quite a feat.

The verdict

This is some good advice from a player who's done it all before. Parrott is clearly gifted and to be an unused member at Spurs will only hinder his development.

The Championship is the perfect place for someone like Parrott to ply his trade, and expect even more clubs to be sniffing around him come the next transfer window.