Liverpool can still sign £100m “machine”

Though Liverpool’s opening Premier League fixture against Bournemouth will have the undivided attention of the club’s supporters, the prospect of Alexander Isak leading the line will linger as an underlying thought in their minds.

The transfer saga has muttered and rumbled like faraway thunder this summer, with the hopes of welcoming “the best striker in the Premier League“, as Isak has been called by Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher, rising and falling over the weeks.

But with Hugo Ekitike having signed and already scored for Liverpool, the forthcoming fixture against the Cherries will be met with the confidence that Arne Slot’s side have the means to make it a successful start to their title defence, having won the league so confidently last year.

Isak isn’t the only one on FSG’s radar. Anfield’s summer transfer charge has been led by Richard Hughes, and Hughes has used his Italian connections to strike a stunning deal for Parma’s Giovanni Leoni, one of the most talented teenage centre-backs in Europe.

With a bid for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi ongoing, it feels like Liverpool’s work is almost done, but there’s actually a case to be made for another midfielder too.

Why Liverpool need a midfielder

Florian Wirtz might have been called “the best midfielder in the world” by former Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrick Helmes, but the German ten operates more within the cracks between the front and middle thirds, pulling strings and making stuff happen.

Liverpool must give some thought to those housed behind the German, the industrious pack at the heart of the engine.

Palace outfought Liverpool at Wembley, with Sofascore recording the Eagles to have won 60% of the ground battles. Ryan Gravenberch was absent and Alexis Mac Allister only played 19 minutes off the bench, but the disparity in steel and tenacity was clear.

Liverpool need someone to slot into the anchor and organise and tackle and promote the flow of the build-up play, someone to contrast with Gravenberch in the deep-lying position.

Well, that someone could be Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, with recent reports suggesting that the England international is a long-standing target at Liverpool.

However, Palace value Wharton in excess of £100m, and with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and even Real Madrid all keen on signing the 22-year-old, FSG might want to use their channel of negotiation with Selhurst Park to their advantage, and put in the groundwork that would seal a stunning signing.

After all, Wharton is one of the biggest English talents out there, with enough potential to even outstrip his teammate Guehi.

What Adam Wharton would bring to Liverpool

In January 2023, Crystal Palace signed Wharton from Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, and he has since bloomed into one of the most exciting midfielders in English football.

Instrumental in helping Oliver Glasner’s side toward winning the FA Cup last season, before following that up with a commanding display over Liverpool during last week’s Community Shield, Wharton has been described as a “passing machine” by journalist Henry Winter.

The statistics back that up, no question there. FBref have recorded Wharton to rank among the top 9% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for progressive passes and the top 7% for shot-creating actions per 90, emphasising his ability to influence an attacking transition from deep and promote build-up play.

Given that Liverpool’s build-up fulcrum has retreated inward under Slot’s wing, with Klopp and now Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departures reorienting the playmaking focus to the middle lane, Wharton could be perfect for the Merseysiders, finding a role that would allow him to grow into one of the very best in the business, across the world, and become a superstar with the Reds.

In this way, Wharton might actually be a bigger talent than Guehi, especially as he’s nearly four years his countryman’s junior and is already being considered by teams like Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Considering how the Three Lions maestro compared to Slot’s centrepiece, Gravenberch, last season in the Premier League, it’s fair to suggest that a few years under Slot’s tutelage could see him settled as a world-class player, conducting not just as the heartbeat of Liverpool’s team but the England Men’s side too.

In spite of his injury problems last season, the metrics reveal Wharton to have made his mark, matching Gravenberch’s athleticism and more than holding his own from a defensive standpoint – even maintaining a steadier creative flow than the Liverpool star, whose incredible form led to being awarded the Premier League Young Player of the Year.

His first foray into the English top-flight yielded even riper results, with Wharton averaging three tackles per game and swiftly turning the heads of the division’s elite members.

Though Guehi has what it takes to become a mainstay in Liverpool’s backline over the coming years, especially once Virgil van Dijk has hung up his Red laces, Wharton, already considered a £100m player, is a “very special player in the making“, as has been noted by talent scout Jacek Kulig.

Might Liverpool be looking at Thiago Alcantara reborn in this Eagles prospect? Certainly, he has the flair, finesse and intelligence to head right to the very top.

Though completing a deal this summer might be a stretch too far for FSG, it’s unlikely Wharton’s sale will be sanctioned at all before 2026, and given Liverpool’s long interest in the player, they might be primed to strike in the future, beating a whole host of top outfits to his signature.