Manchester City have identified Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton as a long-term transfer target.
City are not expected to move for Wharton this summer but they view him as a potential future signing, as part of midfield succession planning at the Etihad Stadium.
Wharton has impressed for Palace since his £22.5million move from Blackburn in January and the 20-year-old has now been named in England’s final 26-man squad for Euro 2024.
He still has five years left on his contract at Selhurst Park, and Palace insist he is going nowhere after a brilliant finish to the season under Oliver Glasner.
City need to revamp their midfield, with Kalvin Phillips set to leave this summer after the departures of both Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan last year.
Matheus Nunes has struggled for game-time since City opted to sign him rather than Wharton’s Palace team-mate Eberechi Eze last summer.
Rodri had another excellent season but asked for a rest towards the end of the campaign after saying he felt overworked, and City’s midfield linchpin Kevin De Bruyne only has one year left on his contract and said this week that he would consider leaving for Saudi Arabia.
De Bruyne said: “You’re talking about incredible amounts of money in what may be the end of my career. Sometimes you have to think about that.
“My eldest is now eight years old and knows nothing but England. He also asks how long I will play for City. Once the moment comes, we will have to deal with it in a certain way.”
De Bruyne’s potential departure heightens the need for City to think about their long-term midfield plans.
City are said to be one of a number of European clubs tracking 19-year-old Benfica midfielder Joao Neves, but his hefty £102m release clause is a significant obstacle.
City launched unprecedented legal action against the Premier League over sponsorship rules on Tuesday, insisting within it that current rules could limit their future spending power on players.
There was huge clamour for Wharton to make the final England squad for Euro 2024 and recent reports suggest he remains a transfer target for Bayern Munich.
Wharton earned rave reviews after completing all 36 of his attempted passes in a confident England debut off the bench in Monday’s 3-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“[England] have been short of these types of players for seven or eight years, if I am honest”, Southgate said of Wharton.
“There's no question he's impressed us. We saw things in his performances for his club that showed [here]. The other players have recognised his quality very quickly.”
Former England captain Bryan Robson complimented Wharton this week for understanding that “the excellence of midfield is in its simplicity.”
