Wharton ready to sparkle as England’s missing gem
Midfielder looks like perfect fit alongside Rice and Bellingham
ENGLAND’S starting line-up is the strongest across the continent and the principal reason Gareth Southgate’s side are favourites to win Euro 2024.
Goalscorer? None better than Harry Kane. Elite wide players? Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka. Chief creator? Jude Bellingham. Midfield engine room? Declan Rice.
But there is one significant piece missing from this rather lavish jigsaw.
To provide a platform for that dazzling front four, Rice needs a metronomic partner who can anchor himself to the middle of the park and keep things ticking over.
At Euro 2020, that calming influence was Kalvin Phillips. But Phillips is not an option this summer, his West Ham loan spell a disaster and his confidence shot.
Step forward Adam Wharton. The 20-year-old already looks like the perfect third piece in England’s midfield.
Since his £22million January move from Blackburn to Crystal Palace and an error on his debut that led to a Brighton goal, he has seldom put a foot wrong.
He nibbles and bites at the feet of anyone with the ball, but when in possession himself is composed and mature beyond his years, passing responsibly and holding his position while others shuttle around him. For England, that would be Rice and Bellingham.
Wharton’s cultured delivery that created Palace’s third goal in Monday night’s 4-0 mauling of Manchester United was exactly the sort of calculated risk England will need this summer.
How handy, then, that Gareth Southgate was watching on from the directors’ box at Selhurst Park. The England manager had plenty to keep an eye on — Eberechi Eze, Dean Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo — but Wharton can no longer be ignored.
“His outstanding skill is always knowing where the opponent and the free player is,” said Palace manager Oliver Glasner.
England have arguably never had a Xavi or Andrea Pirlo figure. That missing cog has been their undoing under Southgate, ceding possession against Croatia at the 2018 World Cup semi-final and Italy in the Euro 2020 Final and paying for it on both occasions.
A trio of Rice, Bellingham and Jordan Henderson worked better in Qatar, but Henderson is now 33. Trent Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, lacks the experience of being a regular midfield starter. Conor Gallagher has been superb for Chelsea but is the energetic greyhound type.
And, frankly, so too is Mainoo. The 19-year-old is thrilling to watch and exceptional in tight spaces but would not be the shrewdest wildcard pick. The clamour is for Mainoo, but it is Wharton who offers what England most need.
Mainoo is an industrious midfielder in a United team that lacks such players, but Wharton would bring an extra level of control to England.
Keeping hold of the ball can win you tournaments at international level. Spain’s 2010 World Cup team know all about that.
No Premier League midfielder has made more tackles and interceptions combined since his full Palace debut in February than Wharton. Crucially, once he has the ball, he does not lose it.
And so Southgate’s options are only square pegs for this round hole — unless, of course, he looks to Wharton, who says he is “never really satisfied” with his own displays, a mindset Southgate will admire.
Some will regard it as too risky to promote an uncapped player from the Under-21s to senior level, but to win a tournament takes calculated risks — and Wharton knows all about those.
Southgate should pick him, and then he should start him.