Blackburn Rovers: The perfect like-for-like Adam Wharton replacement is Villarreal midfielder | OneFootball

After Adam Wharton's departure at the start of February, Blackburn Rovers' scouting team will have surely started to look at suitable long-term replacements ahead of the summer transfer window.

The 20-year-old was subject to plenty of Premier League transfer interest in January, but in the end the starlet made the move to Crystal Palace for a fee worth £22.5 million.

Whilst it would have been a huge blow to lose one of their outstanding young players so early in their career, Rovers will be pleased with the fee they brought in for him and that sort of money would have been a massive boost to the club, particularly as the club's owners - the Venky's - have had assets seized by the Indian Government, causing cashflow issues at Ewood Park.

With that money in the club's bank, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Blackburn try and find a suitable replacement for Wharton in the summer and, with that in mind, we've looked at FBRef to see who the most suitable replacement is.

Villareal's Carlo Adriano is the perfect like-for-like replacement for Adam Wharton

According to the data provided, the most similar player to Adam Wharton in the top leagues around the world is Villarreal's B-team midfielder Carlo Adriano, which would make him the ideal replacement come the summer months.

The 23-year-old midfielder was born in Villarreal and came through the academy ranks at the Yellow Submarines before making his debut with the club's C-team in August 2019.

Since then, Carlo progressed to the club's B-team a season later, and he remains playing for that side to this day.

Unlike in English football, some Spanish club's second teams compete in senior football and Villarreal B compete in La Liga 2, the second-tier of Spanish football and their equivalent of the Championship.

This means Adriano is playing a decent standard of football, and could potentially be an option to replace Wharton in the summer.

He has been a mainstay in Villarreal B's starting 11 this season, failing to start just one game, and has played a pivotal role for the club as they look to avoid relegation to the third tier of Spanish football.

Adriano hasn't featured for Villarreal's first-team for the past two seasons, but he has made three appearances in the past.

He made two appearances during the 2021-22 season, against Levante in La Liga and Victoria CF in the Copa del Rey, and one during the previous campaign in the Copa del Rey against SD Leioa.

Given the fact that Carlo is now 23 and hasn't played a first-team game since January 2022, this coming summer could be the right time to leave his boyhood club and attempt to gain regular minutes elsewhere, although he is contracted until the summer of 2026.

Replacing Adam Wharton won't be easy for Blackburn Rovers

Despite his age and moving to a side struggling in the Premier League, Wharton has received rave reviews following his early performances for Crystal Palace.

The Blackburn-born midfielder has made a seamless transition to top-flight football, and he's only going to get better.

During his time at Ewood Park, Wharton made 51 appearances in total, making his debut as an 18-year-old in August 2022.

It would be no surprise to see Wharton play for England at some point in the next few years, so it's fair to say that it won't be easy to replace their academy graduate.

However, as FBref has shown, there are plenty of unheralded players with similar attributes to Wharton and the club's scouting team may have to look at some of these rough diamonds instead of forking out substantial fees to bring ready-made players to the club, given the situation with their owners.

Adriano is one of them, and if the Venky's make money available to Eustace and director of football Gregg Broughton in the summer, then the Spaniard should be at the very top of the list.