Liverpool have big problem if FSG land £65m Adam Wharton transfer | Football | Sport

Adam Wharton has emerged as a significant target for Liverpool this summer. The Crystal Palace midfielder has developed into one of the most technically impressive players in the Premier League and should go to the World Cup with England this summer. Such is his ability, Real Madrid and Barcelona are among the many admirers of Wharton. And it makes plenty of sense why Liverpool would want to sign him.

He is an excellent passer who has won trophies, played at international level and in Europe, and has over 50 Premier League appearances to his name. All that despite only turning 22 years old next month. He’s also homegrown, and Liverpool have a shortage of senior homegrown players. What’s more, Wharton is believed to have an agreement with Palace to leave for around £65million – at least before add-ons – later this year.

Wharton is one of the best progressive passers in Europe and has brilliant vision but he is not a ball carrier. He wins his duels, and nicks possession plenty of times, and can be the man to set attacks off. He can control the tempo of matches. But he is not a player to eat up the space defensively and make up ground while defending a counter-attack. He is very much in the Florian Wirtz mould in that respect, but as a deeper-lying midfielder. And that is perhaps a problem if Liverpool land Wharton.

They have technically strong midfielders in abundance. Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Wirtz are technicians in possession, be that with their ball-carrying or passing abilities. But they have proven defensively they need extra support.

The Reds are lacking physicality in the centre of the pitch. They get run through far too easily in central areas. The unrelenting Dominik Szoboszlai accounts for almost all of their pressing presence this season. Beyond him, the Liverpool press is disjointed and the midfield lacks a Fabinho-esque presence to anchor it. Several times Szoboszlai has pressed the opposition defence and looked behind him only to see none of his team-mates joining him, leaving huge gaps of space for the opponent to pass into.

Wharton would be a great addition – but if he is the only midfield addition then Liverpool are ignoring that problem. Gravenberch deputised brilliantly last season but his future in the Premier League is as a No.8. In front of a destroyer, his game could go up a level. The same applies for Wharton. Liverpool are looking this season like they could do with Moises Caicedo, who famously snubbed them for Chelsea in the summer of 2023.

What the make-up of the midfield would look like after signing Wharton, under Slot or any other manager, is unclear. Szoboszlai has to start for his out-of-possession contributions, and the fact that he’s also morphed into a consistent game-breaker for the champions this season. Mac Allister was arguably the best midfielder in the Premier League last season but his form has deteriorated significantly this term. Jones also wants to start more in future, if he is to sign a new contract.

Perhaps the answer to that question is that both Mac Allister and Jones will leave Anfield this summer and Wharton is the replacement for their ability on the ball. Even still, a Wharton-Gravenberch-Szoboszlai midfield may not be the solution unless the forward line presses more efficiently.

That three-man midfield then requires Wirtz to start as a left winger in a 4-3-3, or as an advanced forward in a 4-3-2-1. The left wing is then missing pace and directness, which has been a big problem this season.

Instead, the solution might be to bring in a player to break up attacks and give the Liverpool midfield more bite and aggression is a must. Someone like Caicedo. But given the Merseyside club need to sign two centre-backs this summer, and perhaps two wingers and another full-back, can they afford to also recruit two midfielders? Possibly not. Not without major sales.

So while signing Wharton on paper looks great business for Liverpool, if they can do it, the recruitment department need to be hard at work to ensure next season’s midfield are as good out of possession as on it. Otherwise they might be just as vulnerable as they are this season. It is one of many issues facing the Reds in a 2026 full of uncertainties.