The former Liverpool star who could be Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton replacementplaceholder image
The former Liverpool star who could be Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton replacement | Getty Images
Crystal Palace have been linked with a potential long-term Adam Wharton replacement - but is he up to the task?
It’s not yet set in stone, but few would bet against Adam Wharton leaving Crystal Palace at the end of the season. So impressive has the young midfielder been that a number of Europe’s biggest and wealthiest clubs want to sign him, and they are likely to lure him away from Selhurst Park eventually. For Palace, that means some succession planning.
The gossip columns suggest that at least one potential replacement is already on their radar – former Liverpool midfielder Tyler Morton, currently impressing in France after moving to Lyon this summer. The 23-year-old has only just moved to his new club, but French outlet Jeunes Footeux report that Palace are already monitoring him ahead of a potential bid in 2026. But could Morton really be the next Wharton?
Who is Tyler Morton – and why do Crystal Palace supposedly want to sign him?
Curiously enough, Morton and Wharton were team-mates in the 2022/23 season, when the youngsters played together in the Blackburn Rovers midfield – in Morton’s case, on loan from Liverpool, the club whose youth academy he emerged from.
That season was Morton’s first real taste of senior football and there were times when it showed. The central midfielder was technically adroit and could clearly pick a pass, but was often bullied off the ball by stronger opposing players and found it hard to adapt to the pace of the professional game.
Much has changed since then. A loan spell at Hull City the following season was more successful and while Morton never really broke into the senior side at Anfield – he made just two Premier League appearances for them in total and none under Arne Slot – it was clear that he was developing rapidly. He began to trust his technique more and became far better at keeping possession as well as using it, all while becoming far more effective when trying to win the ball back.
That progress (and his part in England’s victorious European Under-21 Championship campaign in June) persuaded cash-strapped Lyon to risk a reported £15m on him this summer, and based on his early performances it was money well spent. He’s turned into a fine box-to-box midfielder not entirely dissimilar to his former colleague Wharton – determined and destructive off the ball, and blessed with an impressive passing range and the vision to match while on it.
He perhaps isn’t as strong of a ball-carrier as Wharton and breaks defensive lines with his passing rather than his running, but that’s one of his few limitations. Morton is, perhaps, a jack of all trades and not yet a master of many, but he is growing steadily and has few weaknesses to his game, and is proving plainly that he can perform at a higher level than Slot seemed to believe.
Morton is close enough to Wharton in playing style and impact on the game that he seems like a logical choice to replace his former colleague should he be sold to a side like Real Madrid or Manchester United in 2026. But how likely is it that a deal is really on the cards?
Will Palace sign Morton next summer?
Jeunes Footeux’s reporting strongly suggests that any potential deal would take place in the summer and not over January, which makes sense with Morton having only just signed for his current side and with Wharton highly unlikely to leave over the winter.
The fact that Morton has only had time to make 15 appearances for Lyon would normally prevent him from being the subject of many transfer rumours, but Lyon’s dire financial situation means that they have little choice but to sell players when appropriate offers come in.
The French side only avoided a compulsory relegation from Ligue 1 over their unpaid debts last season due to a last-minute appeal to the French courts, and the club’s general manager has publicly acknowledged that “financially, things are not going very well.” Morton could quickly become a saleable asset if he continues at his current form.
In short, the fact that he has only recently made a move to Lyon does not mean that Palace’s alleged interest is unrealistic – they just have to make an offer sufficiently profitable. Jeunes Footeux do not offer any estimations of how substantial such a bid would have to be.
The single biggest barrier to such a deal taking place is simply that there is likely to be a long time between now and the point at which Wharton needs replacing. Much could change between now and next summer – even more so if Palace try to cling on to their prized asset, as they did with Marc Guéhi this summer and have done in the past with players like Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha.
That’s a lot of time for Morton’s form to fall away, for Lyon to sell another player such as Malick Fofana to cover their financial needs for another year, or for Palace to simply find another midfielder. This is a perfectly plausible rumour, but not one that can be described as probable with so many variables in play.
If Palace do make a move for Morton, however, they will not only get a midfielder who can be highly effective on and off the ball, but also one who as consistently developed and worked on his game over the course of years – he is only getting better, and could easily end up looking like another bargain somewhere down the line.
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