Adam Wharton is often at the centre of Crystal Palace headlines, having also been at the centre of some England speculation.
Despite an impressive start to the 2025/26 season with Crystal Palace, Adam Wharton wasn’t selected for the England squad in the October international break.
Thomas Tuchel snubbed Wharton for the England squad but later said that the 21-year-old ‘deserved’ to be in the side, in some rather confusing comments from the Three Lions boss.
And it seems as though the confusion and likely disappointment at not receiving a call up is playing on Wharton’s mind.
Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace
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Adam Wharton’s stats for Crystal Palace against Bournemouth
Wharton was poor in the first half, as were Palace as a whole. But he was much better in the second half as Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a second half hat-trick to eventually claim a point in a 3-3 thriller.
But midfielder Wharton recorded just 50 touches of the ball: the seventh-most of any Palace player despite being in the heart of midfield, with 24 completed passes and an unusually sloppy 71% pass rate.
He also chipped in with only three defensive actions on the day, including two completed tackles.
SKY Sports pundit Troy Deeney
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Troy Deeney has concerns over Adam Wharton at Crystal Palace
Wharton is certainly one of the Premier League and Europe’s best up and coming talents. But it’s easy to forget how young he is and how much he has left to learn.
Speaking recently in fact, Troy Deeney said he’s not sold on Wharton just yet: “I could be wrong. And I don’t want to sound bad because he’s English and I want him to do well, but I’m not sold yet on Adam Wharton.
“I think Adam Wharton’s a nice player, moves really well. But again, for £100million, like £100million for [Moises] Caicedo, we know there’s more to go, right? He’s nowhere near his ceiling.”
And his relatively underwhelming performance against Bournemouth, despite having a full international break to rest, might suggest Deeney is right.
On top of that, the recent England snub might be playing on Wharton’s mind. He can bounce back when Palace take on AEK Larnaca in midweek, though.