Sheffield Wednesday have been linked with a move for Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Stuart Armstrong.
Alan Nixon, an EFL journalist for The Sun, is reporting on his Patreon that the Owls are ‘keen to snap up’ Armstrong from the MLS. Wednesday want to take him on a free and hope that he is open to making a return across the Atlantic Sea.
Their interest in the midfielder apparently stretches back as far as the summer, but he opted to go to Canada after becoming a free agent. Wednesday have apparently retained an interest in the 32-year-old and could make a move for him in the final week of the transfer window.
Complicated transfer process
After playing a part in Southampton’s promotion winning campaign last season, Armstrong and the Saints decided to go their separate ways. The MLS season runs from February to December, with Armstrong making his debut for Vancouver last September.
To date, the former Celtic midfielder has got four appearances for the Whitecaps, getting two goals and two assists. His contract at the BC Place runs until December 2026, so there’s still more than a year to run. With Wednesday hoping he’d depart on a free, it does complicate the deal somewhat.
With Shea Charles re-signing on loan until the end of the season and Barry Bannan a regular feature in the starting 11, it does beg the question as to where Armstrong would fit in to the side. He’s played as a 10 and as an eight and has also played on the right-hand side so he would offer some versatility, but with interest reported in Emmanuel Dennis, it appears that a new striker is the priority.
Vancouver’s season begins in mid-February and so at the moment they are going through their pre-season preparations. Their window opens on Friday, January 31, and runs until Wednesday, April 23 so they would have plenty of time to source a replacement.
Stuart Armstrong’s career to date
Born in Inverness, Armstrong’s footballing career began at Dundee United. He spent five years at Tannadice Park, rocking up 149 appearances over five seasons with 21 goals and 31 assists.
His form with The Terrors attracted the attention of Celtic, and he joined them in February 2015. They won the Scottish Premiership title, and success would follow in the three other seasons to come. His career best season saw him get 15 goals and seven assists in the 2016/17 campaign.
During his three-and-a-half years at Celtic Park, he had a record of 28 goals and 25 assists in 144 appearances, winning four league titles, and two Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cups.
Southampton agreed to sign Armstrong in June 2018 for a fee of £7m, and for five seasons they held their own as a top-flight club. It was at St Mary’s in which he and Danny Rohl crossed paths with the latter working as an assistant to Ralph Hassenhuttl.
Southampton is the club that Armstrong made the most appearances for, appearing a total of 214 times. He got 2 goals and 19 assists across five seasons in the top-flight and one season in the Championship.
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