Adam Wharton transfer latest: Blackburn price a problem for Crystal Palace, Tottenham emerge as option | OneFootball

Highlights

Considering they are a club that haven't had the best of finances in recent years, Blackburn Rovers may have to consider huge bids for their most prized asset this January in the form of Adam Wharton.

Rovers are pushing for the Championship play-offs this season, and it comes after they lost talisman Ben Brereton Diaz for free over the summer, with the Venkys opting to keep him for one more year instead of cashing in on the Chile international when they had the chance.

Blackburn lost out on a lot of cash because of that, and over the summer Jon Dahl Tomasson had to cut his cloth accordingly, and he needed to sell both Thomas Kaminski and Ash Phillips to Luton Town and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, to bring more faces in.

And whilst the Venkys struggle to move money out of their native India, it is set to be another transfer window of struggle in January for Rovers - a big sale could change everything though, and Wharton remains the player with the most value.

What have Adam Wharton's recent performances been like for Blackburn Rovers?

Despite his obvious talent, Wharton only played 18 times for Rovers in the Championship last season, with Tomasson looking not to over-expose the midfielder to first-team football.

He has been a regular in the Rovers midfield this season though, often being the deepest lying player in the engine room and allowing other players to take the reins in the final third.

The stats show that he has already beaten his number of assists for last season with one game to go to equal the amount of appearances made, and he's also upped his average numbers in terms of pass success percentage, tackles per game, dribbles per game and also key passes per game, showing that the 19-year-old is coming along rather nicely.

Palace set to snub January swoop

Scouts have been flocking to Ewood Park to watch Wharton in action, and one club who have been keen on the midfielder for some time are Crystal Palace.

It was claimed in August that Palace were keen to get to the front of the queue for the teenager, as per The Sun, but the likes of Everton, Brighton and Man United were also watching.

Wharton stayed with Blackburn beyond the transfer deadline, but Palace remain interested - especially with Cheick Doucoure's recent achilles injury leaving the Malian sidelined for what is expected to be the rest of the season.

However, January is likely to be too soon for Palace to try and sign Wharton, according to The Sun's Alan Nixon, with the Eagles currently priced out of a move for the mercurial talent - that means they're likely to add an engine room operator on loan instead.

Tottenham join Wharton chase

In the last week, it has also been revealed by 90min that Tottenham have become big admirers of Wharton this season, which is a significant development ahead of the market reopening in January.

Spurs have already struck one transfer deal with Blackburn in the 2023-24 season when England youth international Ashley Phillips made the move to Ange Postecoglou's side, and they could be pining to make yet another deal with the Lancashire club.

Any club that wants to make a move for Wharton though is likely going to have to shell out over £15 million and perhaps more than £20 million for his services, and he's currently under contract at the club until the summer of 2027 as well, meaning that Blackburn are in no rush to cash in.