Inside remarkable rise of Everton starlet Harrison Armstrong as youngster fast-tracked to first team

Harrison Armstrong earned the right to be fast-tracked through the Everton set-up after capturing attention behind the scenes during a sensational summer for the teenager from Liverpool. His ultimate reward came at the weekend when he made his Premier League debut against Tottenham Hotspur - an honour that capped a remarkable rise for a starlet who has seized the opportunities given to him by Sean Dyche.

The 17-year-old showed little fear in difficult circumstances in north London and even provided an attacking threat that had largely been missing from his side’s performance - flashing a dangerous ball across goal that forced World Cup winner Cristian Romero into a scrambled response.

The experience was the latest highlight for a player who has been tipped as one to watch during his rise through the Blues academy. Last season that meant being part of Paul Tait’s Under-21s at the age of just 16 as he stepped up age groups as Finch Farm responded to the departures of high-profile older academy starlets.

His perseverance caught the eye of coaches and he has spent most of this summer training with the first team squad. That alone was a significant step up for the box-to-box midfielder, who first trained with Everton at the age of five.

Even at that age he made a quick impression that soon led to conversations about him joining the Blues once he became old enough to do so. “He was a standout player with bags of ability, desire and passion”, former head of academy recruitment Martin Waldron tells the ECHO. “And most of all, he is a born winner.”

Armstrong was part of successful Everton schoolboy teams that travelled the world winning trophies, triumphs that fed his hunger. But he kept his feet on the ground throughout. Waldron continued: “He is such a humble young man with a cool head on his shoulders. He also has bags of aggression on the pitch and channels the aggression in the correct way.”

The “model academy player” has now made an impression at a senior level. Injuries may have played their part in the opportunities he has received this summer, but he has shown no hesitancy in taking the chances that have come his way.

Blues supporters first got a glimpse of him in senior action when he was brought on during the second half of the pre-season friendly at Salford City after a quiet chat with assistant manager Steve Stone.

He received another chance at Preston North End, showing composure on the ball as he wriggled free of the attention of players years older than him to keep hold of possession in the latter stages of the 3-0 win.

By the time Everton’s summer reached Goodison Park his face was one that had become known among the fanbase - as he returned to the pitch for the post-match warm-down one cheeky young Blue even shouted to offer him £20 for his shirt.

Those summer appearances earned Armstrong a profile in the hugely popular Fantasy Premier League game - and deprived Tait of a starlet. Speaking about Armstrong’s progress after the U21s defeated Blackburn Rovers in their opening Premier League 2 game of the season, Tait said: “Harrison has done great, he has been up there and done really well. The manager is happy with him so we will see where it takes him.”

Armstrong, who hails from West Derby, was with the first team the following day as the Premier League season kicked off against Brighton and Hove Albion before dropping back to the U21s for a role in the EFL Trophy win over Tranmere Rovers.

But he was back in the senior mix at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where he entered the fray as a 91st minute substitute for Idrissa Gueye. Speaking after the match, Dyche spoke highly of the youngster, whose U21s teammate Roman Dixon made his debut in the same game.

Dyche praised them both and, of Armstrong, he said: “He has been really good. He is a young player who we felt has been worth fast tracking with us during pre-season. He's been mainly training with us. He played with the U21s but just to keep his game tally up. In a game like that when it has got away from us it's nice to just give him a feel of it.

“You know he's really early in his career but to get around it, get the feel of it on the pitch, to travel with the team, these are all influences that will rub off on him.

"We believe in what he's doing at a very young age, Roman as well. And, you know, there's other players, but we're trying to introduce him to give him at least a feel and sort of fast track by learning when we think they're ready, and we think he is ready to at least be around what we're doing.”