Adam Wharton: Man City, Liverpool-linked ace provides update on Crystal Palace future amid transfer rumours

Adam Wharton has revealed that he never thought about leaving Crystal Palace during the summer transfer window and intends to see out the remaining three years of his contract at Selhurst Park.

The 22-year-old midfielder has established himself as an integral first-team player at Palace and is widely regarded as one of the brightest young talents in the Premier League.

Last month, it was reported that Wharton was the subject of interest from Manchester City, who failed with multiple enquiries for the England international after Palace made it clear that he was not for sale.

Liverpool are another club said to have held a long-standing interest in Wharton, while the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea have also been linked with the highly-rated midfielder.

However, Wharton has said that he remains content at Palace and prefers to “stay very far away” from any talk about a potential move, leaving that to his agent.

Wharton never thought about leaving Palace this summer

Speaking about his future ahead of Palace’s maiden Europa League match against Lech Poznan on Thursday, Wharton told reporters: “I never really thought about transfers this summer”.

“I stay very far away from it. My agent doesn’t really tell me anything, I don’t want to know anything. If I’m not going to move there’s no need for me to have any information.

“I never thought about a different club, I was always here training looking forward to a new season, the gaffer, new players coming in.

“I have three years left at Palace, for all I know I’m here for three years unless a club comes in or there’s another contract. I take it week by week, game by game. That helps me get best out of myself and concentrate on what is next.

“There’s never really anything (more) to it. I’m happy to be playing games and trying to improve.”

Wharton emerging as a leader at Crystal Palace

Wharton has made 101 appearances for Palace across all competitions since joining the club in February 2024, and he captained the Eagles for the first time in last weekend’s 3-2 Premier League loss to Ipswich Town.

The midfielder is keen to improve his leadership skills as one of the more experienced players in Pierre Sage’s squad, which was bolstered by 10 new signings over the summer.

"I think it's just part of improving as a player, trying to lead the team more, be more vocal during training,” Wharton explained. "I think the more you speak and communicate on the pitch, the easier it is as a team to play together and be on the same page.

“I think especially with a lot of new signings, new faces, you have to communicate more because they're trying to adapt to new players, new tactics, maybe a different intensity if they've come from a different league.

“So I think trying to communicate more and trying to have a little bit more of a leadership role on the pitch is something I want to work on. I feel like I'm improving on that.

"If I'm captain, if I'm not, I still want to help the team and be someone they can look to, to pull us together when we might need it. Hopefully I can do that even better throughout the season".

While Liverpool decided against signing a new central midfielder in the summer, Man City spent big to bring in Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi, and it remains to be seen whether the Citizens will reignite their interest in Wharton in the future.