Tom Carroll (English footballer)

Thomas James Carroll (born 28 May 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League Two club Milton Keynes Dons.

Carroll plays as a deep-lying creative central midfielder, and is particularly valued for his high passing percentage accuracy and creativity. Carroll's style of play has drawn comparisons with former teammate Luka Modrić.

Club career
Carroll attended Parmiter's School in Garston, Hertfordshire, near his home town of Watford, and he captained the school football team at district and county level. He also played for the Hertfordshire county side, before linking up with Tottenham Hotspur's Under-16 squad, winning the Legnago Tournament in Italy in 2008.

Tottenham Hotspur
In June 2010, Carroll signed a professional contract with Tottenham after scoring 10 goals in 23 games for their Academy side. He made his first senior Tottenham appearance against Heart of Midlothian in the Europa League play-off second leg on 25 August 2011, and was assigned the squad number 46. Carroll then featured in four group stage games. On 20 September 2011 he started a League Cup third round match away to Stoke City. The match finished 0–0 and went to penalties, Carroll scored his penalty, but Tottenham lost the shoot-out 7–6. Carroll's first appearance of 2012 was versus Cheltenham Town in a 3–0 FA Cup win.

On 27 January 2011, Carroll joined Leyton Orient on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. Carroll's senior debut was in a 1–1 draw at Bournemouth on 5 February, and he totalled 14 appearances, including two games versus Arsenal in the FA Cup.

On 30 January 2012, Carroll joined Championship side Derby County on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season. He scored on his debut a day later in a 3–2 defeat at Barnsley, his first goal in competitive football. Carroll was a regular in the Derby side and played in both central midfield as well as on the right-wing due to an injury crisis. After suffering a minor injury he finished his loan spell at Pride Park with 12 league appearances.

He made his Premier League debut on 3 November 2012, replacing Kyle Walker in the 79th minute of a 1–0 defeat at home to Wigan Athletic.

At the end of the 2013 Summer transfer window, Carroll completed a loan move to Queens Park Rangers, reuniting with former manager Harry Redknapp. On 22 August 2014, Carroll signed for Swansea City on a season-long loan.

Carroll scored his first competitive goal for Tottenham on 10 December 2015 in a 4–1 win over Monaco in the Europa League. On 26 December, Carroll scored Tottenham's third goal, and his first league goal, from the bench against Norwich to help them win 3–0.

For the 2016–17 season, Carroll only played three games with Tottenham, and he moved to Swansea City in January 2017.

Swansea City
On 17 January 2017, it was announced that Swansea City had signed Carroll for a fee reported to be £4.5 million on a three-and-a-half-year deal, returning to the club after a loan spell during the course of the 2014–15 season. In his first game for Swansea City after the transfer, he helped the club to a first ever away League win at Liverpool. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 vital win against Stoke City on 22 April 2017 in their bid to escape relegation.

On 31 January 2019, Carroll signed for fellow Championship club Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season, a transfer which was received with surprise as Villa had been linked with his Swansea teammate Leroy Fer instead. He made his debut two days later as a 74th-minute substitute for Glenn Whelan in a goalless draw at Reading. Carroll only made two appearances for Aston Villa, before suffering a season-ending hip injury and returning to Swansea City on 4 April 2019.

On 11 December 2019, Carroll received his first career red card for two bookable offences, in a 1–1 draw with Blackburn Rovers.

On 31 January 2020, Swansea City announced that Carroll's contract had been terminated by mutual agreement.

Queens Park Rangers
On 4 September 2020, Carroll signed for former loan club Queens Park Rangers on a one-year deal. A day later he made his debut for the club in the first round of the EFL Cup against Plymouth Argyle which QPR lost 3–2. Carroll left the club at the end of the season upon his contract's end, despite being offered a new deal by the club.

Ipswich Town
On 16 August 2021, Carroll joined Ipswich Town on a one-year deal, becoming the club's 16th signing of the summer transfer window. He made just 17 appearances in all competitions before being released at the end of the season upon the end of his contract.

Exeter City
Carroll took a year out of football to concentrate on regaining his health and fitness, training primarily with Tottenham Hotspur throughout the 2022-23 season. Carroll went on trial at Exeter City during the pre-season of 2023. On the 20 July, it was confirmed that he had joined the League One club on a one-year deal.

International career
In March 2011, Carroll was called up to represent the England Under-19 team for the first time in a friendly away to the Netherlands. In November 2011, Carroll was called up to the England under-21 squad, for qualifying matches against Iceland and Belgium. He was an unused substitute in the 5–0 victory over Iceland. He made his under-21 debut on 21 March 2013, replacing Jordan Henderson in the 74th minute of a 3–0 win against Romania. He scored his first goal for England Under-21s on 13 August 2013, in a 6–0 win against Scotland.