Adam Wharton: Liverpool’s plan for Man United target unveiled

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The Peoples Person

17 July 2026

Manchester United’s midfield rebuild has seen the the Red Devils lock horns with their Premier League rivals as much as the club they are trying to negotiate with – but the pursuit of

Adam Wharton

could prove the opposite, according to a new report.

Manchester United have been keeping tabs on Wharton since he was plying his trade for boyhood side Blackburn Rovers in the Championship. The interest was never escalated, however, and Crystal Palace swooped to sign him in February 2024.

It has proven a masterstroke for the Eagles, with Wharton establishing himself as one of the best young deep-lying midfielders in the Premier League across his two-and-half-years at Selhurst Park.

The England international, who was desperately unlucky to miss out on the Three Lions’ World Cup squad as Thomas Tuchel bizarrely opted for Jordan Henderson instead, has been the beating heart of Oliver Glasner’s side.

With Wharton dictating from the middle and Glasner overseeing on the touch, Palace had made history by first winning the FA Cup in 2025 and then following this up with the Europa Conference League last season. In the south London club’s 127-year history, they had never won a major trophy before.

It is little surprise therefore that Wharton, a player his teammate

Yeremy Pino believes has the quality to play for Spain

, has attracted the attention of England’s elite, including the Red Devils.

The Blackburn native is understood to be highly rated at Old Trafford, with

club officials considering him

a “generational talent who could immediately control the engine room” for Michael Carrick, a man Wharton has drawn comparisons to.

However, there is a sense the Palace playmaker is too similar to

Kobbie Mainoo

, making the pair ill-suited as a combination. This view will only have been strengthened by the capture of

Belgian

talisman Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, another midfielder whose strengths like with the ball, rather than without.

While Wharton is understood to remain on Manchester United’s radar, the club are prioritising other targets, such as

Bournemouth maestro Alex Scott or French midfield Manu Kone from AS Roma.

But Liverpool have also been strongly linked with both midfielders, setting up the potential of United losing out on another target to a rival, as was the case with Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes, who opted for Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur instead.

In a major boost, however,

Football Transfers

now reveals the Merseyside club have made Wharton their “top target” after rejecting other options, such as Joao Gomes, to focus on the 22-year-old Englishman.

“Initially, Joao Gomes was considered the leading candidate to sign for the Anfield club but a change of direction has pushed

to the top of the club’s shortlist. Liverpool turned down the opportunity to sign Joao Gomes, who is closing in on a £35 million (€41m) move to Aston Villa from Wolves,” the report states.

“The Anfield club spoke to the agent of the 25-year-old, who was prepared to move to Anfield on his existing terms. FootballTransfers understands that the Brazilian was eager to sign for Liverpool. Having weighed up that deal, the Reds’ recruitment team had a change of heart and opted for a different type of profile, targeting Wharton instead.”

There will undoubtedly be disappointment along the corridors of power at Old Trafford at seeing a highly regarded midfield talent end up at Anfield, even if there was a belief that Wharton was a poor fit for Carrick’s midfield. Yet the fact that the transfer would remove a rival from the red-hot race for two of Manchester United’s primary targets — Scott and Kone — makes a win out of that loss for the Red Devils.

Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images

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