1st Feb 2024 • Written by The Palace Way

Adam Wharton: The perfect fit?

Crystal Palace seem to be learning from the lack of depth that has haunted their first half of the season, making aggressive moves in this year’s January transfer window. The arrival of Daniel Muñoz will fill a gap that has arguably been plaguing Palace since 2019, and there are rumblings and rumours of further business to be done. However, their most notable (and expensive) signing is set to be Adam Wharton, a tenacious teenager described as possessing “Champions League quality”, whose signature will serve as a statement of intent by Palace.

What can he offer Roy Hodgson’s side?

With Wharton, Palace will be acquiring one of the best progressive passers in the Championship. He is immensely comfortable with breaking the lines and this is shown by the fact he has completed 84.6% of his attempted passes this season - with 35 chances created for his Blackburn team-mates so far this term.

Although he’s only 19, Wharton also has an excellent engine, playing in 26 out of the 27 Championship matches this season with an average of 77 minutes per game. He’s also got the 4th most minutes played for Blackburn, sitting at 1,957. He is a great ball winner (he’s made the most tackles at Blackburn, who as a club have made the third most in the Championship), which when coupled with his passing ability (82% success rate) gives Palace the answer to their midfield issues - especially in the absence of Cheick Doucouré. A naturally left-footed player, Wharton’s presumed place in the side would be in a double-pivot alongside Jefferson Lerma, where he will be battling with Will Hughes for a starting spot.

Is he worth the huge price-tag?

Blackburn fans will say it’s a bargain, but it remains to be seen whether Wharton can adapt to Premier League football. Assuming his transition to Palace is smooth, and all things considered becomes an impactful starter within the next 3-5 years, £22m is a rather small price to pay in the modern game for a serviceable number 8. 

This is a lad who oozes potential and has the opportunity to become one of the best in the world at his position. Aggressive in defence with sound passing ability and a high work rate, Wharton has all the tools to develop into one of the greats. 

The biggest thing for Palace fans to remember is that Wharton is only 19 years old. If he is not superb upon his arrival, he still has plenty of time to mature and develop his skill set. Similarly to França, it should not be expected that Wharton walks into the first team straight away; appearances off the bench are to be expected at the beginning of his Palace career - especially with Hodgson at the wheel. 

Evaluating the pros and cons, this purchase offers a significant return on investment if things go right. If Wharton follows the progression of Eze and Olise, he could very well become a future £70m+ player. However, if for some odd reason things don’t pan out as planned, Palace could still recover their original investment on the player, as Wharton would likely attract plenty of suitors and Premier League players cost a premium in the transfer market. 

Will he start straight away?

Knowing Roy Hodgson, probably not. In fact, there’s a slight bit of me that fears that we might not see him very regularly, much like Matheus França. Wharton’s young, not used to the physicality of the Premier League and has to compete with Will Hughes for his spot, so the most we can expect over the next month or so is a few cameos from the 70-minute mark onwards. However, once Palace are guaranteed to stay up and as the season dwindles to an end, it would only be fair for Hodgson to start him for the last two or three games.

It’s great to see another permanent signing in a January transfer window, especially after the first half of the season where we quickly discovered that without Cheick Doucoure, we lack the ability to pass balls forward consistently as well as stop them being passed or dribbled through our own midfield. Adam Wharton has been described as a generational talent by Blackburn Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson and Crystal Palace will do what they have done very well with their other two generational talents Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, which is to nurture and develop him in the biggest league in the world.

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