Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong is currently on loan at Preston North End
Reports claiming that Everton could lose home-grown hero Harrison Armstrong are wide of the mark.
Scouser Armstrong, 18, who has been with the Blues since the age of five, has made half a dozen senior appearances for the club and signed off with a brace of assists to tee up Charly Alcaraz and Beto for their goals in the 2-0 win over Mansfield Town in the Carabao Cup second round at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 27 before completing a season-loan loan move to Preston North End on transfer deadline day, September 1. It is the second time this year that the West Derby prospect has been farmed out to a Championship side having earned rave reviews during his time at Derby County in the second half of last season, playing 15 games and scoring once to help the Rams avoid an instant return to League One.
Since moving to Preston, Armstrong has featured seven times so far, under Paul Heckingbottom and has started their last four matches, including the 1-0 defeat to Birmingham City at Deepdale on Tuesday when, with former Blues Lewis Dobbin and Thierry Small both coming off the substitutes bench, David Moyes watched on from the stands. A report this week from SportsBoom stated that Armstrong is being courted by Everton’s Premier League rivals Leeds United and Burnley and stated: “Armstrong is under contract with the Toffees until next June, but the club are continuing to monitor his progress with the view to a new deal. However, the Merseyside outfit know they will likely have to move quick with rival clubs already looking at securing his signature.”
In turn, this has prompted Goodison News, citing SportsBoom’s piece, to claim Everton face the prospect of losing Armstrong without a transfer fee being involved. However, both of these outlets are incorrect.
Buying clubs have to pay compensation to selling clubs for free agents under the age of 24 for training and developing the player, and it can be a significant amount, and the fact is, Armstrong is not out of contract next summer. Armstrong signed a new three-and-a-half year deal on February 3, ahead of making his first loan move to Derby County and is not only tied down to Everton until the summer of 2028, but there is also an option for a further year.
After Moyes gave the green light to send the midfielder to Pride Park for the second half of last season, he said: “Look, when I was here before, we used to bring in so many young boys and I don’t even know where I would start.
“Not all of them went on to have the top careers but a lot of them went on to have great careers and there are boys in their 30s now who have gone on to have long careers at other clubs.
“Part of a job at a football club is to develop players and make them into footballers. You might not always get them to be playing in your first team, but I remember Ossie went out on loan to Carlisle and Derby County and Harrison has now gone to Derby County.
“Leon Osman came back from Derby, ready to get in the first team. He’d been a talented young player, I remember watching him in the games when he played up front quite often at that time.
“He ended up having to find positions out wide before he could get roles in midfield. He went on to become a great player for us here, Leon Osman.
“I hope Harrison is on a similar journey and becomes a great player for us. It’s just the start for him and hope that he gets the best part of 10, 12 games then hopefully by the summer, we’ll see how he’s looking then.”