Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said he wouldn’t be surprised if Manchester United stepped up their efforts to sign Adam Wharton.
Wharton has established himself as one in all the Premier League’s best midfielders since his move from Blackburn Rovers in January 2024.
The Englishman played an important role because the Eagles won the FA Cup last season, and has began all 10 Palace games he has been available for this campaign.
Such performances have seen Wharton attract interest from a number of top clubs, with United, Liverpool and Real Madrid among the many clubs plotting a move.
With Wharton under contract until 2029, Palace could demand a sizeable fee to let go of their prized asset.
Get personalised updates on Manchester United every single day
Get up to search out news in your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Enroll to our newsletter after which select your team within the link so we will send you football news tailored to you.
And while confident that Wharton continues to be glad at Palace, co-owner Parish suspects the 21-year-old can have ambitions to play within the Champions League within the not-so-distant future.
‘I believe Adam sooner or later will wish to play either within the Champions League with us, if we will make that occur, or probably with one other club,’ he told talkSPORT.
‘He’s a unprecedented talent. I believe at once, and I can’t speak for Adam, but I believe he’s focused on his time at Crystal Palace.
‘He had a broken season last season with the groin issues that he had that a variety of young players get.
‘I believe this season he’s completely focused on putting the games in, getting within the England squad, being a daily for us, and ensuring that he can show that Saturday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday. It’s a difficult programme for us at once.
‘I believe he’s very committed to the club. I don’t know where all these items comes from.’
Asked about recent reports linking United with a £60million move for Wharton, Parish added: ‘If Manchester United want Adam Wharton, that’s nothing surprising really about that.
‘The actual fact of the matter is he’s got a protracted contract to run. There’s no pressure on us to do it, and I don’t think there’s any real pressure from the player either.’
There has also been speculation over the long run of manager Oliver Glasner whose contract runs out at the tip of the season.
The Austrian has been a revelation since arriving at Selhurst Park, and Parish said that talks had begun to increase his stay on the club.
‘Yeah, we’ve had some early conversations, Parish added. ‘I mean we might love to maintain Oliver, we’re constructing something. I believe for Oliver it’s concerning the conditions being right.
‘It’s about every little thing being in a way that he enjoys his work and he finds the conditions favourable to attain.
‘Oliver desires to win things. He makes no secret of that. That’s what he’s in football for. He’s in football for those days where we give all that pleasure to the fans and we do as well. So if we will align those interests, then hopefully we will make something occur.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Man Utd’s stance on hiring Thomas Tuchel revealed if club sack Ruben Amorim
MORE: Eberechi Eze can kick-start his season this week with goals for England and Arsenal
MORE: Man Utd told to sign £75m Premier League star to turn out to be a ‘real team’