David Moyes is hoping that Harrison Armstrong can follow in the footsteps of an Everton great following his loan move. Although Derby County, who have signed the teenager for the rest of the season, announced the sacking of their own manager during the Blues boss’ press conference.

West Derby-born midfielder Armstrong, who has made half a dozen first-team appearances for Everton this term, penned a new three-and-a-half year contract until 2028 before joining the Rams for the remainder of the campaign on deadline day of the winter transfer window.

However, before the Blues home-grown hero, who turned 18 last month, has had a chance to kick a ball for the Championship strugglers who are third bottom of the table and two points from safety, the East Midlands outfit announced they had relieved Paul Warne of his duties the day before their clash at Norwich City.

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In a club statement on Derby County’s website, owner David Clowes said: “Paul is a man of great integrity and embodies the values we hold important at Derby County. No fan should ever forget his contribution in securing promotion to the Championship. I certainly won’t.

“However, results in football dictate decisions and we felt that to give us the best chance of retaining our Championship status, the time was right to make a change.

“Paul goes with our thanks, gratitude and best wishes. He and his family will always be welcome at Pride Park.”

When asked about Armstrong’s loan move in his pre-match press conference for Everton’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, Moyes referenced Leon Osman, who went on to make 433 appearances for the club, putting him joint 10th on the Blues’ all-time list alongside the legendary Dixie Dean, and said: “Look, when I was here before, we used to bring in so many young boys and I don’t even know where I would start.

“Not all of them went on to have the top careers but a lot of them went on to have great careers and there are boys in their 30s now who have gone on to have long careers at other clubs.

“Part of a job at a football club is to develop players and make them into footballers. You might not always get them to be playing in your first team, but I remember Ossie went out on loan to Carlisle and Derby County and Harrison has now gone to Derby County.

“Leon Osman came back from Derby, ready to get in the first team. He’d been a talented young player, I remember watching him in the games when he played up front quite often at that time.

“He ended up having to find positions out wide before he could get roles in midfield. He went on to become a great player for us here, Leon Osman.

“I hope Harrison is on a similar journey and becomes a great player for us. It’s just the start for him and hope that he gets the best part of 10, 12 games then hopefully by the summer, we’ll see how he’s looking then.”