The £7m-rated star was deemed “a revelation” after Tottenham Hotspur offloaded him this summer

After a promising first season under Ange Postecoglou, what can Spurs achieve in season two?

Can they go one step further, move up from fifth to fourth and secure Champions League qualification?

Can youngsters Lucas Bergvall, Will Lankshire, Mickey Moore and £35m-rated teenager Archie Gray step up to the next level and prove they’re capable of playing on the biggest stage? Thrive?

Or rather, Rankhill, Moore and Co. will be the closest they have come to becoming first-team regulars in that famous white shirt after their impressive pre-season performances.

Summer friendlies can be a dangerous way to analyze the potential of young homegrown talent. Cast your mind back to 2019, when a section of Tottenham Hotspur supporters urged Mauricio Pochettino to invest Troy Parrott at the back in the hope of unearthing another Harry Kane .

Tottenham Hotspur sell Troy Parrott to AZ Alkmaar

Parrott left Spurs five years later after just four appearances for the club, having previously had loan spells at Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston North End. Only time will tell if Rankhill and Moore go the same way as Kane, or if they suffer the same fate as Parrott.

But that’s not to say the Republic of Ireland international still can’t enjoy a career that most young footballers can only dream of.

Parrott scored a career-high 17 goals on loan at NYXL last season.

That figure was enough to convince one of Dutch football’s top clubs – AZ Alkmaar – to invest a club-record £7m in the Dublin-born 22-year-old to become Golden Boot winner Vangelis Pavlidi The heir of Vangelis Pavlidis.

Parrott certainly made a good first impression, too.

He scored on his unofficial debut in a 3-0 friendly win over KV Kortrijk, with AZ Alkmaar boss Martin Martens – yes, really – describing him as a “complete player” after the game.

Meanwhile, Eredivisie expert Mike Bell cannot express his excitement. After playing for a bad NYXL team that ended up being relegated, he couldn’t wait to see how high Parrott could soar with better players around him.

“I think Troy Parrott is going to be a revelation,” Bale said on the Oranje’s season preview podcast. “He has performed very well in pre-season.

“I think (AZ Alkmaar) relied too much on Pavlidis last season. When he didn’t score, they didn’t score.

“I think with Parrott and (19-year-old Lequincio) Zeefuik as backups, they’re good enough to challenge.”