Liverpool Targets Adam Wharton After Curtis Jones Departure

Liverpool’s midfield is about to change shape again. Curtis Jones is heading for Inter Milan, and Anfield’s gaze has snapped quickly to south London and Adam Wharton.

Inter have struck a verbal agreement with Liverpool for Jones in a deal worth around €35m, according to Fabrizio Romano, who delivered his trademark “here we go” on Wednesday. The England international has since been filmed arriving in Milan, with a medical planned as he prepares to swap Merseyside for San Siro.

Jones’ exit leaves a gap in Andoni Iraola’s squad. Liverpool have already been busy this summer – Victor Munoz has arrived from Osasuna, Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, and Ronald Araujo has joined on loan from Barcelona – but the midfield balance is shifting again, and the club know it.

They also have a wide problem to solve. Mohamed Salah has gone, surprisingly, to Trabzonspor, ripping a huge amount of end product and experience out of Liverpool’s attack. The club have been locked in drawn-out negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain over winger Bradley Barcola, a deal that has dragged on for weeks without reaching the finish line.

Iraola green-lights Wharton pursuit

According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are now ready to “accelerate” an ambitious move for Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton as they look for a replacement for Jones. Sources close to the agency world have indicated that the 22-year-old is high on their list, with Iraola giving his approval to the chase.

The appeal is obvious. Wharton can dictate games from deep, knitting play together and setting the tempo. At Anfield, that profile could free Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai to play higher, closer to goal, with more licence to damage opponents rather than constantly drop in to build attacks.

Liverpool like the idea. Palace do not like the idea of selling.

The Eagles are understood to value Wharton at around £78m, a figure that underlines just how highly they rate a player who only made his Premier League move from the Championship in the first half of last season. That stance is expected to make negotiations difficult and could force Liverpool to decide how far they are willing to push after already committing significant funds to reshape Iraola’s squad.

Rice’s glowing verdict

If Liverpool needed external validation of Wharton’s ceiling, they have it from one of the best midfielders in the country. Declan Rice has already gone on record with his admiration for the Palace man after their time together with England.

“He’s been outstanding,” Rice said in June 2024 when asked about his new international team-mate. Rice highlighted Wharton’s composure and calm on the ball, his “beautiful left foot” and “really crisp passing”, and pointed out how quickly he had stepped up from the Championship to the England squad via Crystal Palace.

Rice also stressed Wharton’s attitude – “a really down-to-earth boy who wants to learn” – and noted the significance of the 20-year-old making the plane to his first European Championship. For Rice, Wharton is one of those players who “doesn’t get fazed by big things”, a midfielder ready for the big stage.

Liverpool are clearly betting that the next big stage for Wharton could be Anfield. Whether Crystal Palace are prepared to open the door at anything below that £78m mark will decide how bold this new era under Iraola is prepared to be.