Harrison Armstrong's Preston Loan cut short by recall

With Everton's squad massively depleted, David Moyes has acted quickly to bring back Harrison Armstrong from his loan spell with Preston North End.

The 18-year-old midfielder has had a good half-season at Deepdale, making 17 appearances in the Championship for since he joined the Lilywhites on transfer deadline day in the summer. He should now be available for selection to David Moyes's heavily depleted squad for Sunday's Premier League game with Brentford at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

After joining Everton’s Academy aged 5, Armstrong worked his way up through the age groups and made his senior debut against Tottenham Hotspur in August 2024. He was well-liked by the Rams in his first loan spell with Derby County last season, playing a key role in helping them avoid relegation from the Championship.

Armstrong is a central midfielder who has developed a reputation as a highly composed and physically imposing "modern" Number 8. Standing at 185 cm (6'-1"), he possesses a blend of technical security and defensive grit that has made him a standout during his loan spells.

While he is versatile enough to play as a defensive midfielder or even in a more advanced attacking midfield role, he shows great potential as a deep-lying box-to-box playmaker. It appears likely that his main competition when it comes to getting playing time under David Moyes will be Merlin Rohl.

Reader Comments (4)

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Dave Abrahams 2 Posted 01/01/2026 at 10:29:47

I certainly hope he gets used but not at the expense of Garner going to full back— is it possible he can go back to Preston this season when our depleted squad is strengthened?

Jimmy Carr 3 Posted 01/01/2026 at 10:36:32

Michael (1) so you don't trust Moyes' footballing judgement? The facts of our performance under his leadership, 59 points from 38 games and currently 8th in the table, suggests to me he knows exactly what he's doing.

So tell me where you think it's gone wrong exactly?

John Williams 4 Posted 01/01/2026 at 10:37:13

Football today is a squad game and you can only have eleven players on the pitch at any time.

Armstrong is 18 years old and he is not a Wayne Rooney, not played all the games for Preston ( he was subbed in the last game).

He will be an option, something we don t have at present, I just hope it does nt signal, no new players coming in January.