Manchester United face a red-hot transfer battle to win the race to sign Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton this summer after Ruben Amorim identified the 21-year-old as a target, according to a report.
Caught Offside reveals the Red Devils are “closely monitoring” Wharton as a “potential transfer target for this summer.”
Head coach Amorim is described as a “big fan” of the all-action midfielder and this personal approval from the Portuguese is said to be “driving [United’s] interest.”
However, Wharton’s impressive performances at Selhurst Park – which has seen the 21-year-old draw comparisons with Declan Rice and Michael Carrick – have put him on the “radar” of every big club in England, including United.
The report states, “the talented young England international is also on the radar of other big names in the Premier League, such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Tottenham.
“Palace are aware of interest in Wharton and want to try to persuade him to stay and sign a new contract, CaughtOffside understands.”
Wharton joined the Eagles from Championship Blackburn Rovers in the January transfer window in 2024 in a deal worth up to 22 million. He put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half-year contract, tying him to Selhurst Park until the summer of 2029.
This takes the pressure off Selhurst Park executives to strike a new agreement with their prized asset after his meteoric rise, which saw the 21-year-old selected by Gareth Southgate for the England squad for the European Championship last summer.
As such, Wharton is “yet to be offered a new deal by Palace, even if that plan is there, while talks with other clubs are also yet to take place,” the report reveals.
The two United’s – Manchester and Newcastle – are described as “showing the strongest interest at the moment” though Caught Offside predicts “it wouldnt be surprising if others also stepped up efforts at some point.”
Legendary defender Rio Ferdinand has previously identified Wharton as a “great addition” for the Red Devils because of the midfielder’s parallels with former teammate Carrick: “Hes like Carrick sometimes, the way he slaps the ball about.”
But it’s Wharton’s well-rounded skillset which will have piqued Amorim’s interest as he searches for solutions in midfield at Old Trafford.
The coach’s trademark 3-4-2-1 system puts huge pressure on the midfield pivot – often lining up against opposing three-man midfields – to combine outstanding physical attributes with strong technical ones.
Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer offer the former, while Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Kobbie Mainoo offer the latter. It’s only Bruno Fernandes who has demonstrated the ability to do both, and even then the question remains whether the Portuguese international should be deployed further forward.
Wharton would offer Amorim the perfect option for this role, possessing excellent strength and stamina, good defensive instincts, and an expansive range of passing from deep. But it’s this potent pairing of brain and brawn which is interesting the other major clubs across the Premier League.
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Darragh Fox Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
