Harrogate Town striker Luke Armstrong to join Carlisle United

Harrogate Town’s Luke Armstrong will join Carlisle United on a permanent transfer.

Armstrong, 27, will sign for the Cumbrian side on January 1, 2024.

In a joint statement, both clubs said the striker will leave Harrogate with immediate effect and begin training with Carlisle pending the opening of the transfer window.

The statement said:

“Harrogate Town, Carlisle United and Luke Armstrong can each confirm they have all reached and completed an agreement for a permanent transfer on 1 January 2024.

“Having already successfully completed his medical at Brunton Park, Luke will now leave Town with immediate effect to begin training with United, pending the opening of the transfer window and transfer of his registration.”

The move comes as a planned transfer for Armstrong to join Wrexham in the summer fell through.

The English Football League rejected a a deadline day deal between the clubs for the 27-year-old after it said the Welsh side failed to submit paperwork on time.

Wrexham apologised to Harrogate after it was “unable to complete the transfer by the deadline”.

Armstrong, who scored 31 goals in 116 appearances for Harrogate, will now join Carlisle who currently sit in the bottom four of League One.

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Wrexham apologise to Harrogate Town after failed Luke Armstrong transfer

Wrexham FC has apologised to Harrogate Town and Luke Armstrong after a planned transfer of the striker fell through.

The English Football League rejected a a deadline day deal between the clubs for Armstrong, 27, after it said the Welsh side failed to submit paperwork on time.

This morning, Wrexham confirmed that it would not challenge the decision after considering lodging an appeal.

In a statement, the League Two side apologised to both Armstrong and Harrogate Town after it was “unable to complete the transfer by the deadline”.

It said:

“Having reviewed the additional information received from the EFL and considered this in the context of the submission of the documents for the transfer of Luke Armstrong from Harrogate Town, the club have determined there is no reasonable chance of success if we were to appeal the EFL’s decision to reject the transfer.

“Now this decision has been made, we wish to apologise to Luke as we were unable to complete the transfer by the deadline and Harrogate Town, who we are sure will be as disappointed as we are that the transfer will not now be completed in this window.

“The club will be reviewing the circumstances and processes that have led to this outcome with all the relevant parties.”

The sum for the 27-year-old was not disclosed but it was believed to have been in the region of £450,000, which would have been the most Harrogate have ever received for a player.

Armstrong has scored 31 goals in 106 appearances for Harrogate.

Wrexham have been on the lookout for a replacement for star striker Paul Mullin after he suffered a collapsed lung and four broken ribs during the club’s USA pre-season tour.

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Wrexham FC considers appealing Harrogate striker transfer refusal

Wrexham FC is considering appealing an English Football League decision to reject the transfer of Harrogate Town striker Luke Armstrong.

Armstrong, 27, was due to join the League Two side as part of a deadline day deal on Friday (September 1).

The sum has not been disclosed but it was believed to have been in the region of £450,000, which would have been the most Harrogate have ever received for a player.

Town issued a press release announcing the deal but it later emerged the EFL had declined to approve the transfer because it said Wrexham had failed to submit paperwork on time.

The Welsh side has now said in a statement yesterday that it has requested “relevant information regarding a potential appeal against the decision”.

It said:

“Further to Saturday’s statement on the rejection of Luke Armstrong’s transfer registration, Wrexham AFC can confirm the club is still actively collating all the relevant information regarding a potential appeal against the decision.

“Late this afternoon we requested key information from the EFL, which we are informed we should receive tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.”

Armstrong has scored 31 goals in 106 appearances for Harrogate.

Wrexham have been on the lookout for a replacement for star striker Paul Mullin after he suffered a collapsed lung and four broken ribs during the club’s USA pre-season tour.

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Harrogate Town striker Luke Armstrong joins Wrexham

Harrogate Town striker Luke Armstrong has signed for Wrexham.

The 27-year-old joined the League Two side on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day.

Armstrong, who scored 31 goals in 106 appearances for Town, was subject to a number of offers from clubs at the start of the season.

Harrogate reportedly asked for £500,000 for the striker, who made himself unavailable for the opening game at Doncaster Rovers due to multiple bids being made.

Town manager Simon Weaver said:

“We have reluctantly decided that Luke can go to another club.

“It has taken its time because we wanted to keep him, he’s been a great player for the club and we wanted to look after the club and get a good fee in and we’ve managed to do that, but we wish him well.

“He’s been fantastic and I’m glad for him that he’s got back to enjoying his football at Harrogate Town, in some ways it’s a feather in our cap that a player has enjoyed it so much and felt freed up.

“I think it’s a winning situation for him and for the club because we’ve got a really good fee.

“When a player says I want to go and my heart is elsewhere then you have to take it seriously and consider the affect it might have on the team and himself should it not go his way, so in the background we have been working really hard on bringing in centre forwards.”

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Armstrong will join Wrexham, who have been on the lookout for a replacement for star striker Paul Mullin after he suffered a collapsed lung and four broken ribs during the club’s USA pre-season tour.

Meanwhile, Harrogate made two deadline day signings.

Town signed forward Jeremy Sivi on loan from Championship side Middlesbrough and striker Josh March on a permanent deal from Stevenage.

March scored five goals for Harrogate during the 2020/21 season during a loan spell from then parent club Forest Green Rovers.

Harrogate Town want £500,000 for Luke Armstrong, Carlisle manager claims

Harrogate Town have asked for £500,000 for star striker Luke Armstrong, an opposition manager has claimed.

Paul Simpson, manager at Carlisle United, said the Cumbrian side was told the Town forward would be “way out of our budget”.

In an interview with the club website, he also claimed Harrogate asked for bids in the region of half a million pounds for Armstrong.

Addressing rumours that Carlisle were interested in Tyrese John-Jules from Arsenal and Armstrong from Harrogate, Simpson said:

“The second one, we’ve been told that’s way out of our budget. I’m led to believe they’re talking close to half a million for him, and salary wise is way above.

“We like Luke Armstrong. I don’t think you’d need to be a genius to say that Luke Armstrong would be a good signing for Carlisle. But he’s way out of our budget.”

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Armstrong, who scored 16 goals for Harrogate last season, made himself unavailable for Town’s opening day EFL League Two trip to Doncaster.

At the time, Town manager Simon Weaver said the 27-year-old made the request amid “a number of transfer bids from other clubs”.

However, Armstrong has since been involved in Harrogate’s last three league games and started in the trips to Tranmere and Accrington Stanley.

Weaver said previously that Town would require a “significant fee” for Armstrong and a replacement player who is “not just a stocking filler” before he is sold.

He said:

“The offer is still on the table from us for him to sign a new deal, but our position is clear; we have informed him and his agent that two things have to happen before Luke is able to leave the club, we have to do what is best for our club and get a significant fee for him and secondly we need a replacement that is going to make the fans proud.”

Harrogate Town star striker set to leave after weekend withdrawal?

Harrogate Town striker Luke Armstrong looks set to leave the club after making himself unavailable last weekend.

Armstrong was the club’s top scorer last season, scoring 16 goals.

The 27-year-old was left out of the starting 11 at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday after making himself unavailable. Fans were only informed shortly before kick-off.

In a statement, Harrogate Town said Armstrong made the request amid “a number of transfer bids from other clubs”.

Manager Simon Weaver said:

“We had tentative enquiries at the start of the week from other clubs about Luke and those have now led to proper offers.

“Those offers came after we had offered Luke a renewed contract and a three-year-deal, because he deserved it.

“He has been a dedicated and fantastic player for us and we would love to keep him, however on Thursday he informed us he wanted to go and didn’t think he was in the right mindset to perform at his best today, which was disappointing news at the time.

“He has been honest with me and told me he wants to move on and thought it would be detrimental to the team if he took to the field today.”

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Weaver added that a three-year contract offer to Armstrong “is still on the table”.

He added:

“The offer is still on the table from us for him to sign a new deal, but our position is clear; we have informed him and his agent that two things have to happen before Luke is able to leave the club, we have to do what is best for our club and get a significant fee for him and secondly we need a replacement that is going to make the fans proud.”

Weaver told BBC Radio York in a post-match interview that he had “softened” his approach to Armstrong from a “no sale” position following his request.

However, he reiterated that Town would still require a “significant fee” for Armstrong and a replacement player who is “not just a stocking filler”.

Despite the absence of Armstrong, Harrogate made it a winning start to the 2023/24 EFL League Two season with a 1-0 win at Doncaster.

Jack Muldoon scored the only goal of the game with a penalty which saw Town take all three points.

Luke Armstrong signs long term contract with Harrogate Town

Luke Armstrong has extended his contract at Harrogate Town until the end of the 2024/25 season.

Armstrong finished his first season at the club as top goalscorer, netting 14 times since arriving from Salford City in June 2021.

The 25-year-old forward opened the scoring against Rochdale in August in the first five minutes of the game, leading to a nomination for Football League World EFL2 Player of the Month.

He went on to score six in his first eight appearances, earning further League Two Player of the Month nominations in September from the PFA and SkyBet League Two.

Armstrong was instrumental in Town’s historic run to the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup too, scoring a memorable goal at Fratton Park in the second round.

He said today:

“When I first signed here last year I knew it was somewhere I wanted to tie myself down to for a long time so I’m over the moon that the Gaffer has shown his faith in me and offered me a long term contract.

“We want to show what we can do again like we did at the start of last season, we want to be up there challenging and trying and get out of this league and into League One which we are capable of doing.

“Personally I want to do better than last season and get back to the form I showed in the first half of the season.

“Myself and the team had started off really well and I had never felt more at home at a club.

“Even through the tough times we had towards the end of last season I still really enjoyed playing which is a rarity, the lads here are great and the Gaffer believed in me throughout so it was a no brainer to sign again.”

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