David Moyes says a ‘club decision’ will decide the fate of Harrison Armstrong
Everton fans were vocal about their desire for Armstrong to stay.
Everton manager David Moyes said it will be a “club decision” whether teenage winger Harrison Armstrong is sold to Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest.
Moyes confirmed following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth that an offer, reportedly worth £40million, had been made for the 19-year-old.
James Tarkowski’s added-time equaliser earned the Toffees a point at the Vitality Stadium after Alex Scott gave the hosts a 41st-minute lead.
Asked if the bid for Armstrong should be accepted, Moyes said: “It’s not really a question for just now. It will be a club decision.”
Academy graduate Armstrong started on the south coast to make his 24th Everton appearance.
Travelling fans made clear their feelings on the future of the England Under-19 international, repeatedly chanting that a sale would leave the club with “a riot” on their hands.
“I think you always have to consider supporters; supporters aren’t always wrong,” said Moyes.
“But then there’s also times where I’ve 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 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.
“Managers have to make decisions on players sometimes and they feels like huge decisions. But there’s sometimes bigger decisions to be made and the club will, I’m sure, make what they think is the right one.
“If I’d say something to them (the fans), I’d say their manager’s an Evertonian.”
Striker Thierno Barry, who scored four goals in Everton’s opening two games of the season, wasted a host of chances on the south coast.
Defender Tarkowski struck a minute beyond the 90 to continue the club’s unbeaten start to the campaign following last weekend’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace and 4-0 midweek Carabao Cup success at Preston.
“I was disappointed with the second-half performance,” said Moyes. “I was pleased with the first half and I don’t think we deserved to be 1-0 down at half-time.
“I thought we’d done well enough but we missed big opportunities to make a better chance or score a chance when we had it in the first half, and I was hugely frustrated. I think the players were frustrated by it as well.”
Marco Rose rued the “slapstick” nature of the late leveller after he was denied a maiden win as Bournemouth head coach.
Cherries pair Ryan Christie and James Tavernier got in each other’s way following Hayden Hackney’s overhit corner from the left, allowing Tarkowski to fire home the loose ball.
“At the end, that’s life,” said Rose, whose team conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 at Manchester City last weekend.
“You have phases sometimes like this. On the other side I saw a top effort and attitude of my lads.
“We created many chances, we had a good goalkeeper, all what you need for a good game. At the end we had a phase where we could score a second goal two, three, four times to finish the game.
“It’s not even a set-piece this goal. It was just slapstick: two players tried to bring the ball out of the danger zone and then the opponent got the ball.
“Nobody did it intentionally. It was just unlucky and kind of slapstick.”