The sale of the 19-year-old Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest would be a “club decision” for Everton, according to David Moyes. After his team’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth, in which Armstrong played the full 90 minutes, Moyes said he would prefer to keep a player for whom a reported £40m offer has been made.
“I know there’s been an offer, I don’t really think there’s much else I’ve got to say about it,” Moyes said, initially refusing to be drawn. “It’s not really a question for just now, it’ll be a club decision.”
Moyes has previously suggested his discomfort with a lack of business this summer, suggesting his squad was not big enough. His stance was unaltered here on Saturday. “I have said we could do with strengthening and hopefully we can do that. We have a good basis. Let’s hope we can build on it.
“I don’t think we can afford to lose any players, certainly not our better ones. The club dictates a lot of that and we will see how the next few days go.”
Travelling Everton fans sang that the club would have a “riot on your hands” should Armstrong be sold. Moyes, when asked about the supporters’ reaction, said: “I’d say the manager’s an Evertonian.”
He continued: “You always have to consider supporters. Supporters aren’t always wrong. But then there’s also times where I’ve fortunately had people at clubs who are really powerful and make difficult decisions.
“I’d bring into that Bryan Gray, who was at Preston North End, and also Sir Philip Carter, who was at Everton when I first came in. Not always decisions are popular, and sometimes they have to do it for different reasons. It’s like managers have to make decisions on players … but there’s sometimes bigger decisions to be made and the club will, I’m sure, make what they think is the right one.”
On the performance of Armstrong, the teenager lining up in midfield in a game where James Tarkowski’s injury-time goal was required to rescue a point, Moyes said: “Harrison played really well, he did a lot of good work. He ran out of legs a little bit later in the game, but it’s amazing the effort he puts in and he was probably more of an influence in the first half than he was in the second half.”
