Crystal Palace are weighing up whether to return with an increased bid for Adam Wharton after Blackburn rejected their £18.5m offer for the teenage midfielder.
Wharton, who signed a new five-year contract at Ewood Park in December after an outstanding campaign in the Championship, is wanted by Roy Hodgson after Cheick Doucouré was ruled out for the season in November. The 19-year-old was named Blackburn’s young player of the season last season and has previously attracted interest from Newcastle and Wolves.
Palace are understood to be extremely keen to sign long-term target Wharton this month as they attempt to halt their slide down the table. The club have scouted him since last season and have been impressed with his maturity and ability on the ball. However, Blackburn are believed to have stipulated that the England Under-20 international returns to the club he first joined at the age of six until the end of the season as part of any deal.
That could mean the south London club are forced to look elsewhere, with Blackburn also holding out for a significantly improved bid if they were to consider selling their prized asset. It is believed that they value Wharton at £25m.
“There’s been an offer and the club has said no, which I like,” said the Blackburn manager, Jon Dahl Tomasson. “He’s a great lad, I remember last year sitting at home with his parents drinking tea to discuss his development. Now he’s a first-team player and I believe he’ll be an England player.”
Palace are understood to have made signing a defensive midfielder and right-back their priority in this window after a disastrous run of just one win in their last 12 league matches. A bid for Daniel Muñoz was rejected this week by Belgian side Genk, with the Colombia defender reportedly having refused to train in an attempt to force through the move.
Asked last week about Palace’s interest in the 27-year-old, Hodgson said: “Yes, I’ve seen a video of him. He looks like a good player. I’ve only seen a video of him, but on the video he looked good.”
The former England manager will take charge of next week’s crucial meeting with Sheffield United next week after holding talks about his future with chairman Steve Parish.
