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Adam Wharton: The First English Midfielder of His Kind?

English football is at the healthiest place it has been in generations. The likes of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka look set to lead the Three Lions into a prosperous future, a future that may well include silverware for the first time since 1966. Harry Kane still leads the line, and he remains an ample source of goals, even if he is on the wrong side of 30. 

However, there is one player who has perhaps flown under the radar but could be more crucial than all of them. Crystal Palace central midfielder Adam Wharton. 

The Emergence 

Few headlines were written when the Eagles forked out £18 million to sign young Wharton from the EFL Championship side Blackburn Rovers a year ago. In fact, perhaps not many had even heard of the holding midfielder's exploits at Ewood Park. It's safe to say that one year after making the move to Selhurst Park, everyone is aware of the 21-year-old. 

The Englishman has been a revelation at the heart of Crystal Palace's midfield. His array of passing is unlike anything that English football has seen before, with his abilities more akin to Spanish stars such as Xavi and Sergio Busquets, rather than the lung-busting blood and thunder typical of English midfielders such as Steven Gerrard. He is the conductor of Oliver Glasner's orchestra in South East London, and it's no surprise that since Wharton came into the midfield, Palace's fortunes have been revitalized. 

The club languished way down in 14th place in the Premier League and had snagged just five wins all season. Fast forward a few months, and Wharton had begun to pick out the likes of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, and John-Philippe Mateta with regular aplomb, inspiring Palace to win six of their last seven games and catapulting them up the table. 

The current campaign got off to a slow start, with signs of second season syndrome showing for manager Glasner. However, six wins in their last nine games have forced the sports betting odds providers to sit up and take notice. Rather than looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone, the latest sports betting odds feel that the Eagles should be looking up the table, pricing them at 40/1 to finish in the top six, as opposed to a mighty 500/1 to suffer relegation. 

Much of that is thanks to the return from injury of Wharton. He was instrumental in his side's 4-1 demolition of Champions League Aston Villa at Selhurst Park on February 25th, with everything Palace created going through him. His deep-lying, quarterback-like creativity is unlike anything English football has seen before. 

The Traditional English Midfielder 

England has never produced a midfield that is clever and classy with the ball in the center of the park. Perhaps the finest midfielder the country has produced in recent years is the aforementioned Steven Gerrard. The former Liverpool skipper was, without question, world-class; he was a man who dominated the middle of the park with pace and power, managing to charge from one penalty area to the other and cause chaos for the opposition. 

But he was a different type of midfielder. The same can be said for Frank Lampard and even Paul Scholes, with the former Manchester United man only referring to the deeper role we all remember in the later years of his career, meaning that he wasn't as mobile as the 21-year-old Wharton is today. 

The likes of Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves are perhaps closer comparisons. Both of those could control a game from the center of the park. However, the former of that duo never truly got a chance with the Three Lions on his chest, while the latter became injury-riddled by the time he finally got his flowers. 

As such, then, Wharton stands on his own and is defying the status quo of what the stereotypical English midfielder should be. Many feel that he should be a starter in Thomas Tuchel's first England squad, alongside Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, allowing them the freedom to get forward and - perhaps crucially - having the required ability to pick them both out when they move up the pitch. 

Continental Counterparts 

Such midfielders are commonplace on the continent, especially in Spain. Over the years, the Spanish national team has been spoiled with riches in the center of the park, but the Barcelona trident of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets is the one that immediately springs to mind. Wharton perhaps best mirrors the former of that trio. 

Xavi Hernandez was the creative anchor for Spain during their 2008-2012 glory years. It was he in central midfield that was passing rings around the opposition midfield, alongside partner-in-crime Iniesta, leading La Roja to back-to-back European Championships and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. But not only that: he could ping the ball long - either in the air or on the ground - to the menacing strike force of David Villa and Fernando Torres. 

The now 45-year-old won everything there was to win in the modern game, racking up multiple La Liga and Champions League crowns with boyhood club Barcelona, as well as those three aforementioned crowns with the national team. But he also made sure that the world noticed the previously under-the-radar creative midfielder role, winning plenty of personal honors, including Player of the Tournament at Euro 2008 and the World Player of the Year award in 2010. 

Wharton probably won't be aiming that high, and he may even feel that level is out of reach. But in our eyes, the sky is truly the limit, and that should be an exciting thing for both Crystal Palace and England supporters.