Harrison Armstrong is Everton’s brightest academy prospect in a generation. At just 17 the cultured midfielder has already made his Premier League debut, scored a stunning FA Youth Cup hat trick at Goodison Park and made his England u18 debut.
In January the club sought a loan for the midfielder but after just three weeks it seems it has all gone wrong.
Shortly after arriving to the Championship strugglers Armstrong’s new manager, Paul Warne, was sacked. The club has since replaced him with John Eustace but results have not improved. Draws against Norwich and Oxford were followed by a 4-0 thrashing by QPR.
Derby laboured to a 1-0 defeat to Millwall over the weekend. The side failed to register a shot on target and fans bemoaned the side’s inability to create a chance.
Central midfield is a clear weak area when it comes to creativity in the side and as relegation looms, it speaks volumes that new manager John Eustace failed to utilise Armstrong from the bench despite Armstrong’s skillset seemingly filling glaring gaps in Derby’s system.
He has played 43 minutes of football for Derby since moving, missing out on the historic opening of Bramley Moore Stadium and the chance of minutes at a severely depleted Everton side in the Premier League.
The club is in turmoil, second from bottom of the Championship table and with a real battle on their hands to stay in the division. It is a strange place to drop in a young player who needs time, patience and above all else, game time.
At just 18 years old Armstrong will learn from being around the first team of a Championship club. Being a full time senior player will help him grow but minutes on the pitch are not a guarantee between now and the end of the season. His next loan will need to carefully considered to ensure he fits the style of the team and is used in a way that helps him get valuable first team minutes.
Armstrong’s Derby woes are not unique this season. Everton’s loan manager James Vaughan has a hit and miss record of placements in his short time in the role and next year he will need to swing that ratio towards successes.
Eli Campbell at Ross County is certainly one of them. He has excelled at the Scottish side and recently made his debut for England’s Elite Development side – a fancy name for the u20s. The left-footed defender should be eyeing a space in the Everton squad in an area where they are short next year.
Historically Stanley Mills was also well placed. His move to Oxford was looking to be a perfect fit before his time was cruelly ended by injury. With over a year out, he has since returned to Oxford permanently having seen his development stalled enough for Everton to cut their losses.
Goalkeepers Harry Tyrer and Billy Crellin have both done well for Blackpool and Accrington Stanley respectively, although at 23 Crellin is unlikely to trouble the first team in future.
However loan moves for other players have not worked out so well. Jenson Metcalfe was sent to Chesterfield and initially looked to break into the first team but he has played just 15 times, many from the bench due to persistant injuries. Francis Okoronkwo joined him in League Two but has just two league goals for Salford to his name and has failed to make an impact across 17 appearances.
The worst by far is centre half Reece Welch. His loan to basket case (then) League Two side Forest Green saw him struggle last season in a poorly run team. This year represented a last chance for him to prove he has what it takes but the only taker the club could find was Belgian side Deinze. It took months for Welch to make an appearance for the club and it was shortly followed by a financial implosion that saw the club fold entirely. Welch returned to Finch Farm without much fanfare and has since played a couple of u21 games as his contract runs down.
Elsewhere, Roman Dixon made his Premier League debut for Everton amid an early season injury crisis but has not been sent out on loan, while often being sidelined for the u21s to provide squad depth for the senior side. Martin Sherif is also deputising at senior level but has failed to make his debut despite the club only having one fit striker in Beto.
Aside from Armstrong, the only outgoing loan in January was defender Bradley Moonan. A regular at u21 level, it was a surprise when he moved to Prescot Cables in the seventh tier of English football. Cables are a brilliant non-league club but an 18-year-old player at a Premier League side should be aiming to test themselves at higher levels.
The elephant in the room here is that perhaps these crop of youngsters are simply not good enough to make the grade, and League Two or below loans are the only option to get them first team football.
That may be the case but with a new crop of exciting youngsters led by the impressive Braiden Graham coming through Everton need to overhaul their loan planning and implementation. Harrison Armstrong and Roman Dixon top the priority list for 2025/26 but clever, thoughtful loans for others will need to be planned now to ensure Everton do not lose another generation of youngsters.
Everton’s next opponents Brentford are a side who famously use data and planning to ensure they punch above their weight. Last season loan players from Brentford secured promotion with Oxford United and Portsmouth, while another won Bolton’s young player of the year. And like their recruitment, it all comes from a clever use of data.
Brentford Loan manager David Langridge explains: “Me, Lee [Dykes] and Phil [Giles] will discuss the plans for the players and where we see the best place for them to develop and where we want them to play.
“Through those conversations, I’ll then put together videos and collect different data from each department, so we have all the players’ details in one document.
“We’ll all go away, separately, and speak to different clubs, find any interest in the players; then we all sit down together and choose where we think is best for them.”
Brentford say loans are not just decided on whether teams play the same style of football at them. Instead they look at clubs and management styles that will bring the best out of the individual player and help develop areas they need to grow.
Much has been made of Everton’s need to transform the recruitment team, academy coaching, use of data and even first team coaching in the shape of set pieces coaches. The Friedkin Group have an extensive to-do list as Everton look towards the summer.
A major item on that list will be loans and relations with clubs who may want to utilise Everton’s talented youngsters. James Vaughan needs the data and support to place players more carefully and move the club away from the flawed and scattergun approach under Farhad Moshiri.