Future Captain Harrison Armstrong

[blueToffee]

The ruling seemed pretty clear and said Burnley didn’t affect PSR. I don’t really think it’s that.

I honestly think it’s just them thinking he’s pure profit and seems like a good deal on paper, which completely devoid of awareness or context could be seen that way.

[Blues Mahoney]

If I had to guess, and it is just guessing, I'd say it's gone something like this:

The transfer budget was already quite modest after spending over £100 million last summer. There was rumours it was about £50 million. We've already spent another £60 million this summer on Rohl, Hackney, Norgaard and George.

The Burnley thing happens and we get slapped for another £40 mill. That's £200 million net from last summer and this summer.

We get towards the end of the window without making any sales again, and Moyes is kicking off because he wants more players.

Ndiaye looks like he's going to City so they think that can cover more buys and keep Moyes happy.

Ndiaye looks to have fallen through along with Tim to Hull the other week, so they feel they need a sale to finance more incomings including a RB.

There's nothing concrete with Tim, Beto and Ndiaye, so, with Moyes still kicking off, they look to the other 'possible sacrifice' and come up with Armstrong.

But they don't realise the fury this will bring. Will they backtrack? Who knows, but I don't think there's anymore incomings without a sale.

What's the solution? Either try and sell Tim, Charlie and Beto shifting the deadwood asap to get Moyes his buys.....or 1 of Ndiaye/Armstrong has to go to fund the RB/Grealish and whoever else Moyes wants. Option 1 is way better but I'm guessing there's no.concrete takers yet, which is why the Armstrong situation has happened.

Bit of a shitshow really, and naive from the Friedkins. The club need to drop this ASAP and figure out a way to get some deadwood sales done. It's tough, but that's why they get paid good money,

[Cantoffee]

Very much sounds like the club leadership is in favour, Moyes is against, and Armstrong not pushing for it at all.

Just pathetic stuff. I hope Kinnear has been working on his Jiu-jitsu because he'll have to defend himself from headlocks if this goes through.

I suspect if it does it will be the beginning of the end for TFG already, just no way back from this decision in my mind.

[sam of the south]

Very much sounds like the club leadership is in favour, Moyes is against, and Armstrong not pushing for it at all.

Just pathetic stuff. I hope Kinnear has been working on his Jiu-jitsu because he'll have to defend himself from headlocks if this goes through.

I suspect if it does it will be the beginning of the end for TFG already, just no way back from this decision in my mind.

Not sure how they could be forced out, though

[sam of the south]

Ped usually irritates me, but it’s good to see him being blunt about this

[NickNack]

Article from The Athletic (Patrick Boyland)

‘Don’t sell Armstrong’, sang Everton fans. So will emotion or financial reality win?
Aug. 30, 2026 12:00 am EDT  

The message to the Everton hierarchy needed no interpretation.
In the Vitality Stadium concourses before kick-off on Saturday, during the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth and at full time, the Merseyside club’s supporters made their feelings known about the potential sale of teenage midfielder Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest.
“Don’t sell Armstrong, Harrison Armstrong, I just don’t think you understand,” they sang throughout the day, to the tune of Achy Breaky Heart. “If you sell Armstrong, Harrison Armstrong, you’re gonna have a riot on your hands.”

An afternoon of emotion and symbolism ended with Armstrong standing for an extended period, clapping the away end as they repeated their message.
He received sympathetic hugs as he left the pitch, from captain James Tarkowski and fellow defender Jarrad Branthwaite. Everton manager David Moyes had also been over to applaud the travelling support as his young charge’s name rang around the stadium.
If any of the club’s hierarchy was in any doubt as to how fans would react to the news of a potential move for Armstrong, first reported by The Athletic on Saturday morning and confirmed after the match by Moyes, they know now. Consider them warned.
“I know that there’s been an offer, but I’ve not got much else to say about it,” Moyes said, before adding that it would be a “club decision” as to whether they cash in on the 19-year-old academy graduate.

The Scot then echoed his message from recent press conferences: that Everton needed to add to their squad, not weaken it by selling first-team players. Forward Iliman Ndiaye has also been attracting interest from elsewhere in the Premier League, including Manchester City, ahead of the summer window closing on Tuesday.

It is hard to see how Everton could lose two players of this ilk at such short notice and replace them sufficiently to be equipped for a tilt at European qualification this season. That, after all, is the stated aim of their owners at The Friedkin Group, according to chief executive Angus Kinnear.
Moyes, who has repeatedly stated his desire to retain star forward Ndiaye, knows this better than most.

The most resonant line of all from Saturday’s post-match press conference came when he was asked if he had a message for fans ahead of that looming transfer deadline, with so much uncertainty surrounding the futures of Armstrong and Ndiaye, and with a new right-back yet to be signed.
“If I said anything (to them), I’d say that their manager’s an Evertonian,” he responded pointedly, in a way that attempted to align his thoughts and hopes with theirs.

With that, the buck was passed. The story rumbles on. Others, including owners TFG, may now bear more of the brunt of any post-deadline fallout.
At the centre of all the drama and speculation, it should be remembered, is a kid at the beginning of his professional journey.
Armstrong played yesterday, despite the intense speculation, and did well, to the surprise of nobody at the club. He still thundered into tackles and, despite clearly flagging due to fatigue, attempted to drive his side forward in search of an equaliser after the break. It showed the kind of maturity many at Everton have come to expect from him, and helped explain why he is held in such high regard by his peers.
“I’ve been on the end of transfer rumours, and it’s not easy, so for a kid of his age to go and perform the way he did today with all that speculation around him — fair play,” Tarkowski told reporters.

“Harrison’s been brilliant. I’ve known him for four or five years now. He’s a super-talented kid, a massive character in our dressing room for someone so young, and we all love him. His potential is massive, and he’s already improved so much.
“I’d want him here, of course. He’s been super-important so far to us, but it shows how much of a good player he is with all that speculation around him. “

In purely footballing terms, losing Armstrong now makes little sense for Everton.
He already looks at home in the Premier League, and many of those who have worked closely with him tip him as a future England international. He is a local boy, bringing a much-needed sense of connection with fans; the kind that progressive, upwardly-mobile sides normally want to build around.
A fee of £40million is solid money for someone yet to fulfil all of his obvious promise, certainly with clubs such as Everton having to pay close attention to regulatory hurdles. And the sale of someone who came through the academy like him would show as pure profit on the books.

But there is a chance, if Armstrong develops, that such a sum looks relatively cheap in a year or two.  Think of Newcastle United’s £35million sale of Elliot Anderson, also to Forest, in summer 2024 and his subsequent £116m move to Manchester City in this window.
Selling the future to satisfy the present rarely works out well, particularly when the situation is this visceral.
Perhaps this will be a decision between the emotional and footballing sides and the cold financials. It remains to be seen, for example, how much, if at all, fan sentiment can influence matters already in the works.

“I’m not in charge of the finances, so it’s not really my decision,” Tarkowski, who scored the 91st-minute equaliser, said when asked whether he wanted Everton to retain Armstrong and Ndiaye. “From a selfish standpoint, they are two terrific players in a dressing room full of terrific players, so I’d want to keep everyone if it was my choice.
“But you know how football works — people come and go all the time. Iliman’s been terrific in his time here. He’s shown what a quality player he is, so why would you want to lose someone like that?”
Everton supporters, no doubt, will be asking similar questions.

A critical few days await. They will test all key figures at the club, potentially defining perceptions and legacies.
It is hard to come back from false steps with fans when so much emotion is involved.
Over to you, then, Everton.

[Lazarou II]

Tbh whatever happens, I am done with these clowns.

To even contemplate taking £40 million from a competitor is enough for me.

Shows a total lack of understanding of Everton, a lack of respect for the fans and a lack of any sort of ambition.

[NickNack]

Tbh whatever happens, I am done with these clowns.

To even contemplate taking £40 million from a competitor is enough for me.

Shows a total lack of understanding of Everton, a lack of respect for the fans and a lack of any sort of ambition.

If this goes ahead it’s either mismanagement by the board or a total lack of understanding of football in general. Pretty much every supporter knows we need to buy low and sell high to progress financially. If Armstrong is allowed to leave now you’re letting him go for less than half what he’ll almost certainly be worth in a couple of years. He’s important to the squad, he’s not on massive money and he’s apparently not pushing to move at the moment so if you’ve got to sell him, do it when he’s reached the maximum of what he’s worth. That’s what other clubs do

I know Moyes said he wants more players and we desperately need a RB but if we’re that hard up we need to sell first, there are 3 players we’d miss less than Armstrong (Alcaraz, Patterson, Iroegbunam). I know you can’t force other clubs to buy players and it’s easy to say but other clubs manage to get shut of their dead wood and this is what the higher ups should be doing. If they can’t and they’re even thinking of selling the likes of Armstrong to make a quick buck then they’re not doing what they’re paid for.

Selling the likes of Ndiaye isn’t great if we want to progress but it’s understandable as he’s probably at the point where we’re he’s never going to be worth more than he is now so it makes some kind of sense. Selling Armstrong now makes no sense at all unless we’re desperate and if things are that bad then the senior leadership team have failed miserably.

[777Kidnappings]

I genuinely dont think its the owners. I think its the transfer committee. They've fucked up the budget, weve spent the best part of 200m these last 2 seasons and weve still no right back. Weve now been offered 40m for a player who may or may not get in our preferred first XI and they've decided its a great idea without any long term thinking

They will now give us a right back tete and a fan favorite Richarlison again without any long term thinking. They are a bunch of clueless morons

[Cereal Killer]

The ruling seemed pretty clear and said Burnley didn’t affect PSR. I don’t really think it’s that.

I honestly think it’s just them thinking he’s pure profit and seems like a good deal on paper, which completely devoid of awareness or context could be seen that way.

They’re just trying to be Chelsea or City or the shite

Develop some youngsters, sell them for pure fat profit, it’s what the big clubs do

Apart from the big clubs churn out decent youngsters yearly and can buy a ton of potential from abroad without worrying too much if 95% of them flop

We don’t do either of those

At least we’re not trying to just be Brighton though hey?

[Toddacelli]

But selling Armstrong today isn’t even cashing in. Not really, when he’s going to be worth triple that in a year or two and not really if he’s the difference between a European spot or not and not really if we’re in a relegation battle with Forest and they have him and we don’t.

Even if it is purely financial - it still doesn’t make any fucking sense!

[MayorFarnham]

Every other deal I see the market is crazy. 40Mill is fuck all.

[Escalator]

Serious question, once Norgaard and Hackney and even Tim are fit, is he a regular starter ?

[Toddacelli]

Serious question, once Norgaard and Hackney and even Tim are fit, is he a regular starter ?

Yes

[Free Agent]

I’d start him over Tim every day of the week.