Adam Wharton has offered his thoughts on Marc Guehi's future after his Crystal Palace team-mate saw a move to Liverpool collapse last summer
Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Dean Henderson and Adam Wharton of England pose for a photo during a training session at Rockliffe Park
Crystal Palace and England star Marc Guehi has been backed ot leave the club
View Image
Adam Wharton has admitted it’s ‘pretty obvious’ that Marc Guehi will be leaving Crystal Palace as he backed his Eagles team-mate to start for any club in the world. The England international saw a move to Liverpool collapse at the 11th hour on transfer deadline day, but remains of interest to the Reds ahead of his contract at Selhurst Park expiring next summer.
But Liverpool are not the only side interested in signing the centre-back ahead of him becoming one of the more high-profile Bosman transfers available on the market at the end of the season.
The Reds have also been linked with a move for Wharton in recent months as the midfielder continues to impress with Palace.
But the 21-year-old, who made his competitive debut for England as a late substitute against Serbia on Thursday night, recently offered his take on Guehi’s future as he admitted he hopes his team-mate for club and country at least sees out the season with the Eagles.
“There’s obviously so much speculation,” he said on The Athletic FC Podcast. “I think it’s pretty obvious. I think it came out that he wasn’t going to sign a new deal. So yeah…
“I think, obviously, he’s a top defender. You’ve seen it week in, week out in the Premier League. You’ve seen it at the Euros and after that for England.
“So I mean, he’s so consistent. You see it in training. Well, I see it in training every day as well.
“So down to earth as well. He never gets carried away. And yeah, he could literally go to any club in the world, for me, and be starting comfortably.
“It’s probably just where he goes. And when. If he goes in January or in the summer, who knows? I hope he stays until summer so we can have him for a bit longer. We’ll have to see.”
Meanwhile, Wharton admitted that the Palace dressing room had expected Guehi to leave the club for Liverpool as he revealed how the defender reacted after seeing his move collapse.
“People were probably shocked that he didn’t go,” he said. “Because it was all over, he was going, he was basically there.
“We expected him… I think it was after Villa. We pretty much thought he was gone after that, or I did at least.
“And then yeah, it ended up collapsing and then it was just back to normal. But that’s just the type of guy Marc is.
“He’s not going to complain and he won’t show his frustrations. He just gets on with it and just shows the type of professional he is.
“If you looked at his performances, you couldn’t tell that he’d just had a move taken away from him at the last second. That’s just credit to him.”
He continued: “No, I don’t think he did (say his goodbyes). Well he didn’t say it to me! Maybe he knew he wasn’t going! I hope so.
“No, he didn’t say anything like that. Obviously nothing was confirmed. It was kind of in the air. People were maybe talking about it but not talking about it.”
Content Image
Content Image
While Wharton and the Palace dressing room might have speculated about Guehi's potential exit last summer, he also insisted he is not paying close attention to rumours about his own future as he continues to be linked with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.
“Not really, to be honest. I don’t really look into it or think too much about it,” he said. “There’s always rumours floating about on social media and things like this. Is it true? Is it not true? You tell me!
“Honestly, I get my friends all messaging me or my family, my brothers. Everyone will message me and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, is this true? This club is interested.’
“I’m like, ‘Thanks for telling me because I didn’t know before you told me!’ I don’t really take an interest to it too much. I don’t really think about it.
“If something is going to be serious, then I can maybe think about it. But if it’s not very serious, if there’s interest, I’m not interested in knowing because interest… you can be interested in anything and nothing can come from it… I don’t really read into it too much.
“I see it and I’m like, ‘Okay,’ and just carry on with my day. United, the big teams, they’re all linked to 10-20 players. If I’m one in 20, it’s nothing special. It doesn’t really mean too much.
“You must be doing something right for them sort of clubs to be interested or wanting you.
“It’s good but until there is something concrete and direct communication, I wouldn’t stress about it too much.
“I don’t really plan too far ahead. I’m still 21, I’ve got plenty of time. Hopefully, if I keep working and improving and playing as well as I can, hopefully that day will come.”