Everton's Harrison Armstrong
Everton's Harrison Armstrong(Image: Getty)
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Sean Dyche believes Harrison Armstrong has "every chance" of becoming a top player as he delivered his verdict on Nottingham Forest's shock bid for the Everton starlet.
Armstrong has featured in every Premier League fixture this term, earning widespread acclaim from current boss David Moyes. His displays have been all the more remarkable given they have come amid uncertainty over his future.
A possible transfer was met with fierce opposition from Blues supporters, and the resulting uproar brought an end to negotiations over a deal that would have taken the teenager to Forest.
Now his former Everton manager — the man who handed Armstrong his senior bow — has become the latest figure to lavish praise on the midfielder.
Dyche first introduced the 19 year old to first-team football in a pre-season friendly against Salford City during the summer of 2024. Just weeks later, in the opening away fixture of the Premier League season, the then Blues chief handed the England youth international his senior debut in a defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Armstrong was just 17 at the time.
Loan stints at Derby County and Preston North End helped the youngster's standing grow considerably before he was recalled from Preston North End in January of last season.
Armstrong had been on the fringes of Moyes' thinking once Everton navigated a selection crisis, but with injuries to Christian Norgaard, James Garner and Merlin Rohl, he has become integral to the starting line-up this campaign. His popularity, and the optimism his development generated amongst supporters, proved crucial to the backlash in the away section at Bournemouth when news broke that owners The Friedkin Group (TFG) were weighing up his sale to Forest.
The next day, TFG withdrew from those negotiations.
For Dyche, who began his playing days at Forest and later managed them following his departure from the Blues, the rationale behind Oliver Glasner's pursuit of Armstrong was evident.
He said: "He's a good player; I gave him his debut. I think he's got a really strong chance of becoming a real top player.
"It's still early, but I can see why clubs were sniffing, and why Forest made the cheeky approach."
Dyche, who guided Everton through the points penalties that resulted from two violations of the league's Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR), indicated the beneficial effect selling an academy graduate can have on those figures may have influenced the club's readiness to entertain Forest's interest.
He told the The Overlap Fan Debate, sponsored by Sky Bet: "Maybe, because of PSR and the history of Everton's homegrown talent, they thought it was a bundle of money for PSR and all that. I'm not saying they were never going to get him, by the way, with Forest being the club chasing him, but he's got every chance.
"I'm pleased he stayed there. He's got every chance of being a top player, certainly."