Liverpool's Midfield Dilemma: Should They Sign Adam Wharton?

Liverpool have spent the summer quietly reshaping the edges of their squad. Two defenders in Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo, a winger in Victor Munoz, Harvey Elliott recalled from a bruising Aston Villa loan – the work has been tidy, targeted, controlled.

But not everyone thinks it’s been bold enough.

“Spend £100m and sort it”

Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony, never shy with an opinion and a self-confessed lifelong Liverpool supporter, has thrown a grenade into the debate over what comes next at Anfield.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan show, the 50-year-old made a simple case: break the bank for Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton – and move on from Alexis Mac Allister if that’s what it takes.

“I’d love them to sign Adam Wharton,” MacAnthony said. “I think Mac Allister, for me, his legs were gone last year. It was only when he put an Argentina shirt on that his legs reappeared.

“If you could do business there with him going, I think you bring [Wharton] in and you’ve got a player for the next seven, eight years that will be a starter. He’s got so much upside and potential in him. Even if he costs £85m-£100m or whatever else, you’re getting the player for the long-term.”

It’s a provocative suggestion. Move out a World Cup winner after one season. Drop close to nine figures on a 22-year-old with 70 Premier League games behind him. But it cuts to the heart of Liverpool’s lingering issue: the lack of a dominant, natural holding midfielder.

A midfield question that won’t go away

On paper, Liverpool are not short of midfielders. In practice, the balance still looks fragile.

That fragility was exposed again in the defeat to Monaco on Sunday. Liverpool went 2-0 up, then lost control. The pattern was familiar.

The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle described how the side “became disjointed and far too easy to play through” once the early dominance faded. James Pearce in The Athletic underlined the structural concern, writing that “the fact they have not bought a specialist holding midfielder to ease the burden on Ryan Gravenberch is a worry”.

The names have changed over the last 18 months. The problem hasn’t.

Wharton is not a snarling, old-school destroyer in the no.6 role, but he is a modern controller who wins the ball and immediately looks to hurt teams. His Premier League numbers last season, via FotMob, paint the picture of a midfielder who influences both sides of the game.

Per 90 minutes in the 2025/26 Premier League, he ranked in the 95th percentile for big chances created (0.49) and 84th for chances created overall (1.55). Off the ball, he sat in the 85th percentile for recoveries (5.8) and 75th for possession won in the final third (0.6), with solid outputs in tackles (2.46) and duels won (4.92).

That blend has not gone unnoticed by his peers. Declan Rice has already labelled him a “top-level” player, high praise from one of the league’s most complete midfielders.

This is exactly the profile MacAnthony believes Liverpool should be targeting: young, already proven in the division, and capable of anchoring a midfield for the best part of a decade.

Reality bites: Barcola, budgets and the clock

There is, however, the small matter of reality.

Liverpool are currently pushing hard for a big-money move for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola. With the window into its final three weeks, it is difficult to imagine the club suddenly spinning into another nine-figure pursuit for Wharton at the same time.

Earlier in the summer, there were murmurings of Liverpool interest in the Crystal Palace man. Those links have gone quiet. No active negotiations, no fresh noise out of Anfield or Selhurst Park.

Crystal Palace, for their part, know exactly what they have. A 22-year-old English midfielder, already central to their plans, with elite underlying numbers and a long runway of development. Any deal would be eye-wateringly expensive, as MacAnthony’s £85m–£100m estimate underlines.

For Liverpool’s new sporting director Richard Hughes, the equation is brutal. Commit huge funds to a winger in Barcola, or pivot late and throw the same kind of money at a midfielder who might finally close the no.6 debate for good. Doing both, under Fenway Sports Group’s usual financial discipline, feels a stretch.

The bigger call for Liverpool

Strip away the noise and MacAnthony’s outburst hits on something deeper than a single name.

Liverpool’s rebuild is at a crossroads. They can keep patching around the edges, trusting versatility and coaching to cover the lack of a specialist defensive midfielder. Or they can make one more decisive, expensive move to lock down the base of their midfield for years.

Wharton would fit that second path. He wins the ball, he progresses it, he creates. He’s already shown he can handle the Premier League tempo, and his numbers suggest there’s another level to come.

For now, the expectation is that he will stay at Selhurst Park beyond this window. Liverpool’s energy is pointed towards Barcola, the calendar is unforgiving, and no live talks with Palace are on the table.

But the question won’t go away. If Liverpool stumble again this season because their midfield can be “far too easy to play through”, how long before a talent like Wharton stops being a luxury fantasy and starts looking like an unavoidable necessity?