Manchester United's midfield is still an issue for Ruben Amorim, but they may need to act quick if they are serious about possibly signing Adam Wharton
Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace reacts with an injury during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Crystal Palace at Villa Park on August 31, 2025 in Birmingham, England
Adam Wharton has previously been linked with Manchester United
(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Manchester United rebuilt their frontline without maintaining the engine over the summer.
Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha have looked bright this season, while the jury is most definitely still out on Benjamin Sesko. The club is more than aware they will often find themselves overpaying for players, as a result of reckless and vast spending habits from the past.
A £100million price-tag was slapped on Carlos Baleba, who remained at Brighton and Hove Albion this summer. In and amongst the headlines linking the Cameroonian to Old Trafford, Adam Wharton was pirouetting and passing his way through games under the radar at Crystal Palace.
With his buzzcut short back and sides, rolled down socks and modest goals and assists tally - seven goals and 18 assists in 147 appearances in all competitions including the Championship - Wharton has not been heralded in the media like many of his English counterparts. His less than glamorous exterior may prompt many to brand him a hard worker, rather than the technically gifted maestro he is.
He is dictating games for Palace, moving the ball forward at will and acting as a defensive blanket for his backline. Elliott Anderson grabbed the headlines, rightly, for his display against Serbia for England, but it may have been Wharton's name up in lights, had the Palace man not pulled out of the squad with an injury.
The lack of external hype in his game is reflected in his CIES Observatory ranking, which states a "fair market" value for his services is between £39m and £46m.
It's far away from Palace's purported £100m price tag - a figure slated as "mad" and "daft" by Jamie Carragher - but's it's a significant rise from his January value of £28m, according to Transfermarkt.
Head coach Xabi Alonso and Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid shake hands during the LaLiga EA Sports match between Real Madrid CF and RCD Mallorca at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on August 30, 2025 in Madrid, Spain
Real Madrid rarely fail to get the target they want(Image: 2025 Diego Souto)
It could rise even further, as reports from the Sun before transfer deadline day claimed Wharton has Real Madrid's attention. The Spanish powerhouses have been sniffing out free agents like bargain hunting sharks.
But, their interest in Wharton, whose deal at Selhurst Park does not expire until 2029, suggests they view the midfielder as an investment potentially worth making.
Real Madrid know few players turn them down. The European heavyweights will happily wait for contracts to expire or prices to drop when they've planted visions of the iconic white shirt and the Bernabeu in their target's mind.
Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Crystal Palace FC at Old Trafford on February 2, 2025 in Manchester, United Kingdom
Wharton has been one of Palace's best players in their recent victories over Manchester United
United still hold significant cache, as Cunha and Mbeumo's snubbing of Newcastle and Tottenham respectively, has demonstrated. But this will continue to wane with every poor campaign.
The Red Devils may need to act fast, maybe even in January, if they want to bring Wharton to United. If a bidding war with Real Madrid takes place, Los Blancos will fancy their chances.
They may not have the stomach to win a financial bidding war, but they are in a better position to win the player's minds. Wharton may not get the crowd of their feet with goals and assists, but he can plug all sorts of holes in the United midfield, in which there are many.
In the same way United pinpointed their forward line targets in the summer window just gone, similar action may be needed for the Palace ace next year.