It flew under the radar a little bit, but Preston North End’s capture of Harrison Armstrong is a big deal. Here, we exclusively reveal why the Everton youngster ended up at Deepdale.
Now the dust has settled on a busy summer transfer window that saw Championship clubs spend £320m in total, we’ve been inspecting some of the more prominent deals more closely.
Preston North End were small-spenders relative to the big boys in the Championship, with just a £1.38m outlay.
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However, Paul Heckingbottom’s side did pick up one of our favourite deals of the window, with Harrison Armstrong choosing to join Preston on loan for the year.
David Moyes, Manager of Everton portrait before the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Everton FC
Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Speaking to our Chief Football Correspondent, Graeme Bailey, about the deal,EFL Analysis can exclusively reveal what the player and his parent club, Everton, were thinking in sending Armstrong to Preston.
Bailey said: “I just think it was an accumulative decision. Obviously David Moyes has strong links with Preston but he wanted him to get first-team football. There was no point in him going somewhere just to be a squad player. He could have stayed at Everton and done that. So they wanted him to go somewhere where he’s guaranteed to play 30-40 games this season.
“I think that cut down the options, but that’s what the player wanted as well. You would think this will be his last season out on loan. It’s a bit surprising that Everton let him go out at all anyway. But obviously the idea of getting more minutes was key.”
We know West Brom wanted Harrison Armstrong at the end of the window, but by the time the Baggies registered their interest, it was already too late. Derby County were also keen on Armstrong returning on loan this season after a successful few months at Pride Park last term.
Harrison Armstrong of Derby County reacts
Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
Harrison Armstrong can build on strong season with Derby County
There will be a lot of attention on Harrison Armstrong this season after the youngster showed glimpses of what he’s capable of last year with Derby County.
It was such a successful loan spell that Armstrong even hinted at talks to renew the deal, but that obviously never happened.
Armstrong said he matured and learned a lot during his spell there, and that development was clear to see on the pitch.
Statistics Harrison Armstrong for Derby County
Games 15
Minutes 1,105
Goals 1
Pass success 66.9%
Tackles won/90 1.46
Interceptions/90 1.87
Clearances/90 2.68
Touches/90 37.9
Data via FBRef
He played 15 times for the Rams, bagging one goal in 1,105 minutes of football. Obviously, attacking play is not really his forte, though.
Armstrong’s combative play and reading of the game saw him register 1.87 interceptions per 90 minutes for Derby, as well as 1.46 tackles won and 2.68 clearances per 90.