As reports broke of an approach from Nottingham Forest to sign the midfielder before the transfer deadline, Blues fans have been vocal in their demand to keep him
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It’s April 2016 and Everton are hosting an Academy Day which sees the youngest age groups play games and spend time with the first-team squad.
One the shoulders of left-back Bryan Oviedo is a young lad with mousey brown hair called Harrison. He’s from West Derby like Tom Davies, an older Blues youth-team player who will make his debut against Southampton at Goodison Park in eleven days’ time.
Fast forward a decade and that little boy has also made the grade with Everton. Harrison Armstrong has impressed in his 24 first-team appearances and showing a maturity in his play which belies his 19 years. Strong performances on the pitch and a steely, determined attitude to match means he is the next great hope for the future.
Now, Evertonian hope has always been dashed over the last 30 years. Whether it was Gary Speed, Andrei Kanchelskis and Duncan Ferguson giving hope for an outside tilt at the title in 1996, academy graduates like Francis Jeffers, Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley giving hope for the future or quality players like John Stones or Joleon Lescott giving hope for the here and now, generations of Blues had to deal with the fact sooner or later, the club would either cash in or the individual would push to leave because Everton simply couldn’t, or wouldn’t, match their ambitions.
It was grim because every other season, clubs would circle in, progress would be curtailed and Everton daft kids would be crestfallen and yet again have to wait for a new idol to get on the back of their shirt.
So, based on that history, Saturday morning felt like Deja vu when it was reported a £40million bid from Nottingham Forest had come in for Harrison Armstrong, our next great hope.
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However, the worry shouldn’t be the same this time because this is supposed to be a new era. Everton no longer need to sell to survive. The days of struggle gathering the pennies to sign a Brian McBride, Sean Davis or David Dunn are long gone.
CEO Angus Kinnear said just this month: “We’re very well funded now. Our financial challenges are behind us,” and so many supporters agree and even demand that this bid should be dismissed pretty swiftly without a second thought.
Harrison Armstrong on the shoulders of Bryan Oviedo during Everton's Academy Day at Finch Farm in April 2016 🔵⚽️ pic.twitter.com/qIUM5iWr1z
— Ell Bretland (@EllBretland) January 20, 2026
Armstrong playing today at Bournemouth takes me back to sitting in the Old Trafford away end aged 13 in August 2004. Manchester United were in hot pursuit of 17-year-old Wayne Rooney and the travelling Toffees amusingly chanted ‘Rooney’s gone to Chelsea, Rooney’s gone to Chelsea’. In an era before mobile phones, I can still see the look on home fan faces as some reached for their transistor radios looking for reassurance. Back then, Everton fans were resigned to losing their next great hope. Down on the South Coast, the away end will be much more defiant yet, sadly, just as fearful.
Evertonians have been stung too many times before, and as the club still hasn’t filled the gaping right-back-shaped hole in the side, you can’t blame Blues for lacking faith and fretting that the club could make a bad decision, a decision some fans are claiming on social media and Whatsapp groups could be among the worst in 50 years. That doesn’t include Harry Catterick selling Alan Ball to Arsenal but make no mistake, it will be talked about this weekend as older fans think back, still hurt by that switch 55 years later.
For the men in suits making decisions at Premier League clubs, it feels PSR has made the figures on a spreadsheet just as important the numbers in a scoreline.
Now, cashing in £40m for an academy graduate looks excellent for the accounts because it’s pure profit. That one line though proves the game has never been more gone because football isn’t about accounts; it’s about winning games, lifting trophies and giving fans a day in the sun they will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. To do that, you need talent like Harrison Armstrong in your side.
I feel sorry for any of the young lads who have come through academies in recent years and have perhaps not been so keen on making moves away from what they know during a key stage of their development. Some will have loved the opportunity to move on I’m sure, though others, thanks to the daftness of PSR, rules set in place which only benefit the status quo and stifle any challengers, may have felt like mere pawns, making a sideways move for a grossly inflated transfer fee purely so clubs can satisfy these rules.
🎶Don’t sell Armstrong - Harrison Armstrong - We just don’t think you understand - If you sell Armstrong, Harrison Armstrong, you’re gonna have a riot on your hands” Everton fans belting it out at Bournemouth. pic.twitter.com/0fRzOQ3S7I
— Bluekipper.com (@bluekippercom) August 29, 2026
I hope Everton refuse to sell Harrison Armstrong but this is the Premier League in 2026 and showing sustainability and profit seems to be the order of the day for every club in the land. Of course, it’s always been this way and I’m sure chairmen in 1926 wanted strong turnover but today’s apparent obsession and the column inches it takes up is sad.
As for Armstrong himself, who truly knows what the player wants. Only he and his inner circle will know whether he envisions a 15-year career at Hill Dickinson Stadium or something different. Would a move to the City Ground aid Armstrong’s career? Maybe, maybe not. Only time would tell on that one as there are so many sliding door moments that determine a player’s path.
Nobody knows either, what’s Everton’s vision is or what they may come to weigh up and decide in the coming days but yeah, it just doesn’t feel like a move that would push the club forward. Whatever figure they could receive from Forest this summer would be dwarved by what he could be worth five years, even two years, from now.
In an ideal world, Everton grow with Armstrong to one day win trophies and compete at the highest level. In a less than ideal world, should he grow at a faster rate than this current Everton, he joins a club playing for titles.
In no world though, should he be sold to Nottingham Forest who will reap the rewards of his talent and later earn a much higher transfer fee, way beyond the £40million they are reportedly bidding to pay this week. It should not be entertained.
The story of Everton and their young talents has been a miserable one for 30 years. Of course, sales have benefited the club from a cashflow point of view in the past but for supporters, who want something tangible to really get behind, it’s demoralising.
Those supporters eager to take a pragmatic and analytical approach to a possible sale might claim that Armstrong’s development isn’t guaranteed and that the funds can aid Everton in the short and long-term. Two starters could be signed with money raised from a player who is not a guaranteed starter when everyone in the squad is fit.
However, at this stage of what is supposed to be a new era for Everton Football Club, such pragmatism shouldn’t come into it. This is about what a sale represents.
From the owners coming in and the ground move to the riches afforded to a Premier League ever-present through TV revenues, this is meant to be different.
At least fans had hoped this would be different. That’s the thing with football, the one thing you have is hope though sadly for Evertonians, it feels like its in shorter and shorter supply, no matter the scenario. Only the club has the power to restore it in the coming days.
The saying goes that ‘it’s the hope that kills you’. For Blues today, it’s the main life source of their fandom. If Harrison Armstrong is sold, hope will be lost for thousands and many will admit to wondering, what’s the point anymore?
An Everton season ticket holder and football writer, you can subscribe to all of Ell Bretland's work at https://ellbretland.substack.com
Selected thoughts from readers
1 Paul Birmingham
29/08/2026 17:58:38
Surely Everton have a structure now whereby they wont sell their best players? The club is rebuilding and Harrison is key to this.
He plays with energy and purpose abd maturitu bryond his years and I pray by the fact he plaued today he isn't getting sold.
Still developing but what a prospect..
What happens between now Tuesday night, who knows, but hopefully Everton won trade Harrison.
2 Robert Tressell
29/08/2026 18:00:07
I'd be very surprised if TFG are remotely interested in selling Armstrong.
Ndiaye, yes. Age and form mean that he will never again be worth as much as he is now (circa £70m). So you could see the logic in cashing in and trusting George, Johnson, Dibling and maybe Grealish on loan.
Armstrong would be a short term boost to the finances - but we would be losing a player who (a) could be a First XI player for the next 10 years or more and (b) could be worth double by the end of the season (£40m is really not a big fee at all). It's the sort of thing we might have done pre-TFG when we were teetering on insolvency - but not now. It doesn't make footballing or financial sense.
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