Adam Wharton Wins Gerrard's Signed Shirt from 2005 Champions League

Adam Wharton didn’t just buy a shirt. He bought a slice of Liverpool mythology.

The Crystal Palace midfielder, heavily linked with a summer move to Anfield, has been caught on camera nervously bidding for a signed Steven Gerrard jersey from Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League triumph – and winning it.

On an eBay Live stream, Wharton appeared under the handle @whartttty, eyes glued to the countdown as the auction ticked towards zero. With seconds left, he thumped in a final bid of £410 for the framed red shirt, emblazoned with “European Champions Istanbul 2005” and Gerrard’s signature planted squarely above the old Carlsberg sponsor.

The tension snapped the moment the hammer went down. Wharton rocked back in his chair, grinning, before letting out a simple, satisfied line: “We got it.”

The clip then jumps to the 22-year-old outside, the parcel finally in his hands. He holds it up to the camera, still sounding like a kid on Christmas morning.

“So the shirt from Icon Memorabilia’s live stream has just arrived – here it is. What a beauty that is,” he says, before the camera flips to the jersey stretched out on a sun lounger, the Istanbul inscription catching the light.

For Liverpool fans, that inscription is enough to trigger a flood of memories.

Under the floodlights of the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in 2005, Gerrard dragged his boyhood club through one of the most extraordinary finals the competition has ever seen. Rafael Benitez’s side were dead and buried at half-time, 3-0 down to an AC Milan team stacked with legends. Paolo Maldini had scored inside a minute, Hernan Crespo added two more, and the European Cup looked destined for a golden era Rossoneri side.

Then came the storm.

Gerrard’s looping header on 54 minutes cracked the door open. Vladimir Smicer’s drive two minutes later blew it wider. By the hour mark, Xabi Alonso had slammed home the rebound from his own saved penalty to make it 3-3, and Istanbul was drowning in disbelief.

From there, it turned into a test of nerve and resilience. Defenders on both sides threw themselves into blocks, extra-time passed in a blur of cramp and clearances, and the final settled into a penalty shootout that felt like it might never end.

Liverpool held their nerve. Milan did not. Serginho blazed over, Andrea Pirlo’s effort was saved, and Andriy Shevchenko’s tame penalty sealed a 3-2 shootout win and a fifth European crown for the Reds.

That is the night stitched into the fabric of Wharton’s new prize. And it is also the night that fuels the romantic side of Liverpool’s fanbase as they watch one of their top midfield targets proudly show off a Gerrard relic.

Wharton’s admiration for Liverpool’s iconic former captain will only intensify the noise around his future. Palace are desperate to keep him and have reportedly slapped a price tag of around £78 million on the England international, a figure designed to test even the most ambitious suitors.

Liverpool are among those circling, though they are not alone. Real Madrid have also been credited with strong interest, setting up the prospect of a heavyweight tug-of-war for one of the Premier League’s most coveted young midfielders.

For now, Wharton remains a Palace player with a Gerrard shirt on his sun lounger. Whether he ends up wearing Liverpool red to write his own European stories is the next question hanging over the summer.