Adam Wharton is one of the most in-demand Premeir League players and Manchester United’s will be on red-alert following comments from Crystal Palace chief Steve Parish
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has admitted the club are preparing for the possibility of replacing certain players in the summer amid Manchester United’s interest in Adam Wharton.
Wharton is one of the top targets at Old Trafford to improve Ruben Amorim’s midfield. United attempted to lure Carlos Baleba from Brighton & Hove Albion in August but opted to spend the remainder of their transfer budget on a new goalkeeper.
A new midfielder is the priority at United heading into the January transfer window, with Baleba and Wharton at the top of that list. The Reds have recently shifted their transfer focus to Premier League-proven players, with over £120 million spent on Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo last summer.
Wharton has three-and-a-half years left on his deal at Palace after moving to Selhurst Park from Blackburn Rovers at the start of 2024. The England international is one of many assets at Palace that are being linked with a big-money move away from south London.
Marc Guehi was close to joining Liverpool late in the summer window, and Jean-Philippe Mateta was the subject of reported interest from United. Palace sold Eberechi Eze to Arsenal for around £60m in the summer, 11 months after Bayern Munich paid £50m for Michael Olise.
In an interview with The Athletic, Parish has conceded that the club could lose more key players when the 2025/26 season ends. “We’ve got one eye on players who we might have to replace in the summer,” he said.
“We’re not going to throw it all on red and have a massive problem. Unless you want to be in a situation where you’re constantly putting in money every year, there’s a cash limit to what you can spend.
“You can’t spend money you don’t have. You have to have some guardrails as a club, or you’ll build up big problems down the track. Everyone saw where prices went in the summer; it’s a difficult landscape.
“There wasn’t the right thing available at the right time when the finances were in place. There’s no point in doing something for the sake of it. How are you going to get someone to come and tell them they are No 1 in Ebs [Eze] position if you still have him? The one where we didn’t, with Marc [Gueh], we kept him.
“You can’t always make happen what you want to. We are where we are in the pecking order; you could ask why other clubs make bids for our players two weeks before the end of the window. I don’t know why they did that.”
Parish’s comments come after Wharton’s representative, James Featherstone, revealed that the midfielder has ambitions of making it to the top. “When he was at Blackburn we sat down and spoke about shooting for the stars and playing for England,” he told talkSPORT.
“So how do you get there? Personally I think to play for England you have to play Champions League, to play in the Champions League you have got to play for one of the top teams in one of the top leagues.
“That jump to a Champions League team, I think you can get lost. The plan below that was to play for a Premier League team. We have got a plan. He is 21. I have to check myself to remember that every now and then. It doesn’t have to be achieved yesterday, today or this moment.
“He has got his in-game, in-season targets and goals. He has got to do his bit and the rest will look after itself in a very structured, calm way to ultimately add value and maximise his ability.”
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
