Wrexham, MK Dons must pay six-figure fee to sign 27-year-old striker, report claims
Wrexham and MK Dons have failed with bids for Harrogate Town’s Luke Armstrong and must pay £500,000 for his services, as per Football League World.
Wrexham and MK Dons are both tipped to be in the promotion picture this season and both have the means to bring in some more fresh faces before the window ends on September 1st.
Now, it has been claimed the League Two have made attempts to sign striker Armstrong from divisional rivals Harrogate Town.
Football League World reports that both Wrexham and mK Dons have failed with bids for the 27-year-old striker. The Sulphurites have placed a £500,000 valuation on Armstrong, who is under contract until 2025 and yet to score so far this season.
The ex-Middlesbrough youngster managed 16 goals and six assists in 46 league games for Harrogate last season. That tally took him to 30 goals and 12 assists in just over 100 games for the club, helping keep Simon Weaver’s side in the EFL in the process.
On the move?
Armstrong is a big reason why Harrogate Town are still in the EFL, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the club are demanding half-a-million pounds for their talisman. Losing him to a divisional rival would be a blow too, but time will tell if either Wrexham or MK Dons are to match the valuation to prize Armstrong away from Town before the window’s end.
The two sides have until 11pm next Friday to get a deal done if they wish, so any deliberation will have to be pretty swift.
Losing Armstrong would be a big blow for Harrogate but with the funds from a sale, the hope would be that they can land a suitable replacement. It remains to be seen if their interest goes further after seeing bids rejected though.
READ MORE:
Sources: Harrogate Town set price-tag for 16-goal striker as Wrexham and MK Dons transfer bids rejected
Having turned down offers earlier on in the transfer window, Harrogate have set their valuation for 16-goal striker Luke Armstrong
On the eve of the 2023-24 League Two season, Harrogate Town were delivered a huge blow when talisman Luke Armstrong declared himself unable to play in their season opener against Doncaster Rovers.
That was due to transfer speculation surrounding him, with Town head coach Simon Weaver confirming earlier that week that the club had turned down offers for the striker following his 16-goal haul in the 2022-23 campaign in the fourth tier of English football.
The Sulphurites won against Doncaster without the forward anyway, but Armstrong has since returned to the first-team squad, coming off the bench against Forest Green Rovers and starting against Tranmere Rovers and Accrington Stanley – all matches which Town lost.
And as the final week of the EFL transfer window approaches with the deadline being 11pm on Friday September 1, there looks to be still interest in the 27-year-old.
Who is interested in Harrogate Town’s Luke Armstrong?
According to sources close to FLW, the teams who had offers rejected for Armstrong were League Two rivals Wrexham and Milton Keynes Dons.
Wrexham have made no secret of their desire to strengthen their attacking unit despite scoring 13 times in their first four league matches, with last year’s top scorer Paul Mullin missing the first month of the campaign with a collapsed lung.
MK Dons meanwhile are flying high in second position with Mohamed Eisa in particular in good form, but they have tried and so far failed to add Armstrong to their arsenal in the final third.
For now though, Armstrong – the son of former Premier League striker Alun – remains at Wetherby Road, but with a week to go of the transfer window Town could be vulnerable to any more approaches, although he is contracted to the club until June 2025.
How much will Harrogate Town sell Luke Armstrong for?
After turning down offers for Armstrong earlier in the window, Harrogate are believed to have set their price for Armstrong.
Sources have exclusively informed Football League World that a £500,000 price-tag has been slapped on the head of the striker, perhaps in a bid to scare off some of their divisional rivals who are still lurking.
Town paid an undisclosed fee to Salford City for Armstrong in 2021 after he had a particularly successful loan stint with Hartlepool United, scoring 15 goals in 32 appearances for the then-National League outfit.
And despite not showing that form for the Ammies in League Two, he has more than proven himself as a top fourth tier goalscorer whilst at Harrogate.
In his debut season, Armstrong hit the back of the net 14 times in 50 outings, and then improved on that record in the 2022-23 campaign when scoring 16 goals in 51 matches.
Despite his lacklustre start to the current season in-front of goal, Armstrong remains a top target for some of the promotion favourites in League Two, but whether their purse strings stretch as far as Harrogate’s valuation for their prized asset remains to be seen, having already lost the goals of Alex Pattison in midfield earlier in the summer to Bradford City.
