Manchester City have made an enquiry about Adam Wharton but Crystal Palace have told them the midfielder is not for sale this summer.
Wharton is one of several midfielders on City’s recruitment list as they seek to rebuild in the centre of the pitch. Palace, however, have no intention of allowing the 22-year-old to leave before the transfer deadline on 1 September.
City’s move for the Palace midfielder shows they are getting desperate. With Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders having all departed, the club are under pressure to add to their midfield options before the new begins.
City have already spent £116m on Elliott Anderson, who joined from Nottingham Forest, but their pursuit of other targets has yet to yield fruit. They are interested in Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez and Lille’s Ayoub Bouaddi, but there has been little headway on those deals.
And to add to that, Nico Gonzalez is wanted by Newcastle. A departure for the Spaniard would create yet another vacancy in the squad that City would need to fill.
Adam Wharton 💫 pic.twitter.com/F8LapZKZQ3
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) August 20, 2026
Palace’s stance suggests the midfielder is currently unavailable regardless of City’s interest. Wharton has a contract with Palace until 2029 and has become an important player since joining from Blackburn for £22m in January 2024.
He made 53 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring once and providing seven assists as Palace finished 15th in the Premier League and won the Conference League.
The England international has played 96 times for Palace and was part of the team that won the club’s first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup in 2025.
He has won four England caps since making his senior debut in 2024 but was not selected for the 2026 World Cup squad.
