David Moyes has hailed Everton's England Under-21 trio, explaining the big change he's seen from Tyler Dibling while outlining what he wants to see next from Harrison Armstrong.
Despite bringing in golden oldies Jordan Henderson (36) and Danny Welbeck (35) this summer to add experience to their side, Chelsea, who are Saturday's visitors to Hill Dickinson Stadium, have still named the youngest starting line-up in the Premier League this season, but Moyes believes his own young guns are coming on.
Dibling's progress
Dibling was the Blues' most expensive signing of the 2025 summer transfer window, joining for £35million from Southampton but ended up playing just 350 minutes of Premier League football (less than four full matches) during his first season on Merseyside, including a solitary minute after the winter window closed.
However, Moyes is pleased with what he's seen from the winger lately. He said: "Tyler has made a big difference lately. He's been a little bit unlucky.
"He was just getting a little bit more minutes, then he went away with England, so he wasn't with us for three weeks. Maybe we could have kept him going, but he went away with England, so I've got to get him back on it again.
"But I actually think Tyler's starting to show more. He's starting to grow a pair, and he's starting to have a bit more devilment in his game, which we need.
"It's a bit like that when you come to Everton. You're going to have to do all those bits as well. We want you to be the player, but there's another side to it as well for us.
"I actually think that he's come on in some of the games. Against Hull, he beat the boy, got to the byline and put a cross in. I was really pleased with that. I think he's just beginning to show a little bit more, so I'm hoping that Tyler will come to the fore."
Armstrong's rise
One player who has already established himself in the Blues side this season is Armstrong. The 19-year-old, who was the subject of a £40million offer from Nottingham Forest in late August before chairman Dan Friedkin personally stepped in to perform a dramatic U-turn over the deal after supporters threatened to riot, has started every Premier League game so far.
Moyes said: "I think Harrison stepping into the situations has given us all another thing. If I was honest, I was thinking this is going to take a little bit longer, but he's done so well.
"The caveat probably to that would be to say, look, there'll be periods when because of his age, where we'll take him out and put him back in and what not. But I think he's done really well, which has added to what we have.
"Hayden [Hackney], we're bringing on from the Championship. We talked that way, but Christian [Norgaard] was really important.
"We were bringing him to give us that feeling of being a little bit more secure in the number six position. But unfortunately, he's just had a problem with his Achilles, and we've been nursing it through and getting him ready.
"We think he's just about there now, but he's really only in his version of pre-season at the moment, so that's why we're just trying to take it a bit careful."
Moyes added: "Harrison has been great for it since then and to be fair, you know he was probably the player who stood out through pre-season when he came back. I think he was always going to get an opportunity because in those games to show exactly what he could do, and he did do.
"What we're eating into him now is: 'Are you going to score a goal? Are you going to get goalscoring positions? Where are you going to be as a midfield player?'
"We've played him a little bit higher up in midfield and what he needs to just add to that now is some goals and some assists to that as well."
Rice comparison and George's wait
At previous club West Ham United, Moyes worked with another home-grown midfielder Declan Rice, who progressed to become captain before following Jack Grealish as the second £100million English footballer when he joined Arsenal in 2023. When comparing him with Armstrong, he said: "Declan has got an unbelievable engine and real good character and Harrison got a lot of that about him.
"Declan wanted to find a way of scoring goals a little bit after the first year where he played a bit deeper. Then he wanted to show he could score a few goals and people were saying: 'well, you have to score goals.'
"You've got to remember Declan was probably a few years older than what Harrison is at the moment. Declan was nearly a centre-half in the early days at West Ham until he moved back into midfield.
"I think it's a big name to follow. Harrison has got other attributes but he's still got things that he has to improve on as a 19-year-old.
"Lots of bits of his play could be better but we're really pleased how quickly he's come on. Rather than [being] a first-team squad player, he's now a first-team player."
Meanwhile, after initially arriving on loan from Chelsea last season, Tyrique George, who played alongside Armstrong and Dibling for England U21s over the international break, has now completed a permanent switch to Everton and could face his former club for the first time. Moyes said: "He's just probably having to wait his time a little bit. There is no doubt he started well, got us a good goal against Manchester United playing off the right.
"We like Tyrique a lot. I want to get him some rhythm, he had a bit and then we took it away because we wanted Jack's experience.
"Tyrique is well in our thoughts. Does he have to do an awful lot more?
"He has to keep learning, getting better, but he is doing things… he has the ability to beat people, to score, we don't want to knock him down but he is still a young boy.
"He was at Chelsea and was not getting much game time, but he is getting more here, that is great as he goes on."
