Premier League news: Could Harrison Armstrong be Everton’s next superstar in the making?
At just 19 years of age, Harrison Armstrong has already made 16 appearances for Everton in the Premier League, with most of them coming towards the back-end of last season.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Dylan Grady assesses how the 2026/27 campaign could be Armstrong’s chance to solidify his place in the Toffees midfield.
Early loan spells
The 19-year-old West Derby–born midfielder has enjoyed two spells away from his parent club: with Derby County in the last six months of the 2024/25 season and with Preston North End for the first half of the 2025/26 campaign.
Championship side Derby, led by John Eustace, were battling to stay in the division at the time of Armstrong’s arrival in February 2025.
But in a crucial game for both sides, Armstrong scored his first goal in senior football against Plymouth Argyle in a 3-2 victory at Home Park.
Armstrong started Derby’s final 11 games of that season, with the Rams successfully escaping relegation and the loanee crucial to that success in the centre of midfield in Eustace’s 3-5-2 formation.
The Derby boss expressed a desire to keep hold of Armstrong, but David Moyes decided to keep the youngster at Everton for the upcoming pre-season.
Ultimately, Armstrong joined Preston on loan until the end of the 2025/26 campaign, with Lilywhites manager Paul Heckingbottom describing him as “a really good player” following a solid debut against Hull City.
Later in the season, after Preston had picked up a 2-0 away win at Southampton in November, Heckingbottom again praised the midfielder, claiming he doesn’t mind doing the less glamorous defensive work for the team.
However, due to his qualities and Everton’s injury issues, Moyes recalled Armstrong at the beginning of January.
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Premier League experience
The young Scouser made his first Premier League appearance in August 2024 against Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a game which ended in a 4-0 defeat for the Toffees.
While Armstrong only came on for the last few minutes, it was a proud moment for the 17-year-old and his family.
Once he returned from his loan at Preston in early 2026, Moyes put full faith in Armstrong and brought him on against Brentford within three days of being recalled.
Moyes then started Armstrong in all of Everton’s next six games, with Amstrong providing versatility in both midfield and on the wing, the latter a position he had never played before.
Some of those games included impressive wins on the road for the Toffees, including a 1-0 win at Villa Park and 2-1 win away against Fulham.
Armstrong started in the victory over Aston Villa, and one of the highlights of the game was his hounding of Matty Cash on the right-hand side and a strong but firm slide-tackle on the Polish international in the dying seconds.
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Impressive pre-season
Armstrong has started five out of six games for Everton in pre-season, reverting back to his traditional role as a central midfielder.
While pre-season does offer academy and younger players in the squad a chance, Armstrong seems to have cemented his place in the Everton first team.
Everton’s midfield is currently overloaded with James Garner, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Hayden Hackney, Christian Nørgaard, Tim Iroegbunam, Merlin Röhl and Charly Alcaraz.
With rumours of departure circulating around Iroegbunam and Alcaraz and certain injuries expected along the way, Armstrong could definitely get a chance – and he’s shown that in pre-season when Garner was out with a groin injury.
Everton’s most impressive display of pre-season was also Armstrong’s best and came on Wednesday against Newcastle United at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield.
The Toffees midfield consisted of Hackney, Armstrong and Dewsbury-Hall, with the trio combining effectively throughout, interchanging positions and creating positive patterns of play.
The result was a 3-1 win for Everton, with Amstrong picking up the man of the match award after two assists for Thierno Barry and Tyrique George.
Armstrong had a 94 per cent passing accuracy, made 100 per cent of his long balls, succeeded in three out of four ground duels, and won two interceptions.
While it is only pre-season and players and managers do say that you can’t take too much away from these games, Armstrong has shown he can take his game to another level.
Everton fans will hope to see this in Everton’s last pre-season game against LOSC Lille at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Armstrong may end up struggling for regular game time this season given the competition he will face, but pre-season has certainly shown that he’s more than capable of holding his own in Everton’s midfield when the time comes.
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