Armstrong calls the Premier

It's been more than five years since Adam Armstrong's last Premier League game. It was with the Newcastle shirt, where he spent all his formative years and with which he debuted a few weeks after he turned 17. Armstrong was the great forward coming out of the quarry; He was the tip that had to knock down the door of a first team in low, very low hours. But he barely had time. Months later began the round of assignments that took him, in just three seasons, to the third division.

If Armstrong was considered the great hope of the magpies, it was not by chance. In it, everything necessary to be loved, even desired, was given: He scored goals, was a Newcastle fan and had been in the quarry since he was nine years old. In the lower categories of England he was a regular and with them he won the European Under-17. Furthermore, his first loan experience was a success: 20 goals for Coventry City. SHowever, when he returned to the first team, recently relegated to Second, he did not find the confidence of Rafa Benítez, which pushed him to another assignment. That summer he was also part of the England U-20 that won the World Cup. But he was a substitute in the final. The winning goal, things in life, was scored by Calvert-Lewin.

What Armstrong later decided was the most normal thing: to go his own way. He left Newcastle three seasons ago and signed for Blackburn Rovers, a project that has always been a long way from the playoffs for promotion to the Premier League. His adaptation there was not easy: they forced him to play on the left wing, instead of as a forward, so as not to seat a scorer like Danny Graham. Thus his scoring ratio lowered in exchange for having more minutes. Until this season. This course, Blackburn paints differently. There is an evident commitment to youth. Graham is no longer there and Armstrong is the starting striker, where he takes advantage of his spectacular hitting the ball – he also kicks penalties – and his explosive start to combine with two other players wanting to assert themselves. On one side they have Ben Brereton (21 years old); the other is Harvey Elliot (17 years old), on loan from Liverpool.

Today Armstrong is 23 years old and has 12 goals in 12 games (to which we must add another five in July after confinement). Everyone celebrates them looking at the camera and opening their arms, as if wanting to hug teams. He is on his own merits the top gunner in the category. It is very likely that there will be clubs that have their name written for a month. It is even more likely that a few are from the Premier.