Arsenal Eye Adam Wharton

The English starlet has been linked with Arsenal

With the opening of the January transfer window just a bit over a month away the links with players have started. The newest and a rumor that raises my eyebrow is for Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton. It comes from the I don’t really know how credible CaughtOffside:

Arsenal have held some talks over the potential transfer of Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, who is also on the radar of Liverpool and Manchester City.

Sources with a close understanding of the situation have informed CaughtOffside that the Gunners are prepared to try making a move for Wharton in January, with the talented young England international open to leaving Selhurst Park.

It is understood that Arsenal hope to try getting a deal done for somewhere in the region of €55m, but Palace would ask for more like €65m for the 20-year-old.

Wharton exploded on the scene after returning to Crystal Palace after a loan stint at Blackburn.

Lets take a quick look at him over the last two seasons.

In the Championship he showed strong numbers as a defensive midfielder, flashing a well rounded profile that hinted that he could be a future star as a deep playmaker. This was also enough that Crystal Palace believed he was ready to step up to the Premier League.

This is a big green flag for an under 20 midfielder.

His switch to the Premier Leage saw a dip in his on the ball numbers from the Championship, his passing rated as just okay rather than above average. His defensive numbers by contrast got a bump up. This was also good enough to get him a call up to be a part of the England squad at Euro 2024 (but didn’t get any minutes).

This season he started the season carrying a hernia injury but played through it, before it became something that he could no longer manage needing surgery at the beginning of November that will have him out through the beginning of December.

His numbers this season, even while playing through injury have looked a bit better but it has not translated to Crystal Palace finding the same form that they had at the end of last season.

The positives, if you were looking at this from an Arsenal perspective is that the passing numbers have bounced back to the same or better levels to what he did in the Championship.

To help with the sample size, here is how his overall combined Crystal Palace numbers compare to other midfielders:

The numbers look good, when you factor in that he is still just 20 years old it is even more impressive. It makes a lot of sense why the top teams are circling him.

But does it make sense for Arsenal?

This is the most important question, and it is a compound question.

Does Arsenal see him as a six or an eight? My personal view towards him leans towards seeing him the deeper starting position but he has talent and time where he could develop that specialization.

Where is Declan Rice’s long-term position? Is he the six of the future or will he continue to play the majority of his minutes further forward?

If Wharton is viewed as the long-term replacement for Partey and Jorginho at the deeper role I am very excited for the thought of this move regardless of the answer to Rice’s long-term spot because this is such a long-term hole in the squad.

Where should Arsenal focus their attention in the January Transfer Window?

It is just a good problem to have when you can add players of this caliber to the team. The €65m price tag is probably on the higher side of what I would like but it doesn’t seem massively out of line for the potential that he has shown.