Liverpool's Midfield Dilemma: Should They Pursue Adam Wharton?
Liverpool have already reshaped their defence this summer. Some believe the real surgery still needs to happen in midfield.
With three weeks left in the transfer window, Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has called on his boyhood club to go big – very big – on Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, even if it means a fee nudging towards £100m.
A fan in the boardroom, a message for Anfield
MacAnthony, a lifelong Liverpool supporter, used his appearance on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan show to deliver a blunt verdict on the current midfield balance and a clear recommendation for Richard Hughes.
“I’d love them to sign Adam Wharton,” he said, before turning the spotlight on Alexis Mac Allister’s form last season. “I think Mac Allister, for me, his legs were gone last year. It was only when he put an Argentina shirt on that his legs reappeared.
“If you could do business there with him going, I think you bring [Wharton] in and you’ve got a player for the next seven, eight years that will be a starter. He’s got so much upside and potential in him. Even if he costs £85m-£100m or whatever else, you’re getting the player for the long-term.”
It was a pointed suggestion: cash in on Mac Allister, reinvest heavily in Wharton, and lock down Liverpool’s midfield core for the next decade.
A quiet midfield amid a noisy window
So far, Liverpool’s work has come elsewhere. Jeremy Jacquet has arrived to bolster the back line, Ronald Araujo has joined on loan, and Victor Munoz has been added out wide. Harvey Elliott is back from his short-lived spell at Aston Villa.
The middle of the pitch, though, looks much the same.
That continuity might comfort some managers. For others, it highlights a missed opportunity. The defeat to Monaco on Sunday only sharpened the debate. Liverpool went 2-0 up, then lost control of the game in familiar fashion.
The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle described how the side “became disjointed and far too easy to play through” once ahead, while James Pearce in The Athletic underlined a nagging concern: “the fact they have not bought a specialist holding midfielder to ease the burden on [Ryan] Gravenberch is a worry”.
The problem is not numbers. It is profile. Liverpool have bodies in midfield, but still no nailed-on, elite No.6 in the mould that defined their best years under Jürgen Klopp.
Wharton’s rise and the reality of the market
Wharton has already convinced those who share the pitch with him. Declan Rice has labelled the Palace man a “top-level” player, and the numbers from last season back that up.
- ‘Big chances’ created: 0.49 per 90 (95th percentile)
- Chances created: 1.55 per 90 (84th percentile)
- Recoveries: 5.8 per 90 (85th percentile)
- Possession won in the final third: 0.6 per 90 (75th percentile)
- Tackles: 2.46 per 90 (64th percentile)
- Duels won: 4.92 per 90 (51st percentile)
He is not the classic destroyer who lives for sliding tackles and yellow cards. He wins the ball, then does something with it. He turns regains into attacks, stitches play together, and creates.
That blend – defensive awareness, press resistance, and end product – is exactly what makes him so expensive. Palace know what they have. Any club trying to prise him away this late in the window will pay a premium.
Liverpool were linked earlier in the summer, but those whispers have faded. Right now, their major pursuit is elsewhere, with a big-money move for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola on the agenda. Committing another huge fee for Wharton on top of that would demand a dramatic change of plan at Anfield.
A luxury or a necessity?
This is where the argument sharpens. On paper, Liverpool do not lack midfielders. In practice, the absence of a natural, top-tier holding midfielder keeps showing up in big moments.
Wharton does not fit the pure “destroyer” stereotype, yet his numbers scream control and progression. He wins the ball, he creates, he sustains pressure. For a side that too often opens the door once in front, that profile feels less like a luxury and more like a solution.
Will Liverpool tear up their current blueprint and test Palace’s resolve before the deadline? Right now, it looks unlikely. The club’s attention appears fixed on Barcola, and there has been no fresh, concrete movement on Wharton.
But MacAnthony’s challenge lingers in the background. Pay the premium now, secure a midfielder for the next seven or eight years, and reshape the spine of the team.
If Liverpool’s season again turns on a soft centre and a missing No.6, the question will be unavoidable: should they have pushed for Adam Wharton when they had the chance?
