"I feel really sorry for homegrown English players at the moment," said former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock in the wake of Everton calling off Harrison Armstrong's move to Nottingham Forest.
The Reds made a bid of £40m plus a potential sell-on clause for the 19-year-old, who signed his first professional contract with the Toffees in July 2024.
"Ideally, if you're lucky, you go to the academy of the team you support as a young player," Warnock explained on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club. "That club then becomes the team you want to play for.
"However, your club will take one look at you and decide there is value in you at the moment because there is full profit in doing a deal.
"When you look at the Harrison Armstrong situation, do you really think he wanted to leave Everton after just breaking into the first team? He even went out on loan to Preston North End and worked hard to get this opportunity.
"He would have got a call to say: 'By the way, we have accepted a bid for you.' It wouldn't have been a case of him being asked: 'Would you like to go there?'
"I just don't understand why the club accepted that bid for a homegrown player. It is astronomical money - don't get me wrong - but we need to re-evaluate what's going on with our homegrown talents.
"Having a Scouser in the team is huge for the fans and huge for the academy. You want to draw other players in by showing that you progress your homegrown players into the first team.
"At the minute, clubs are showing that they progress their homegrown players to sell them - and that's an issue."
Listen to the full episode of Monday Night Club on BBC Sounds
[BBC]
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