Liverpool targets Adam Wharton for £100m after Gomes deal scrapped

Liverpool’s summer of upheaval has taken a sharp, decisive turn. Adam Wharton, Crystal Palace’s rising midfield star, is now the club’s No.1 transfer target – and Liverpool are preparing to go all in.

According to Football Transfers, the Anfield hierarchy, led by FSG, have performed a clear U-turn. Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes had been lined up as a cheaper alternative, a £35m solution to a growing problem. He was open to the move. The deal was there.

Liverpool walked away.

Gomes is now heading to Aston Villa, leaving Liverpool to chase the player they really want: Wharton, the 22-year-old described as a “superstar” after a standout season at Selhurst Park that included a key role in Palace’s Conference League triumph.

A squad stripped back – and under pressure

This is not a gentle refresh. It’s a tear-down.

Andoni Iraola has replaced Arne Slot in the dugout, and the dressing room has lost three heavyweight figures in one hit: Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konaté and Andy Robertson have all departed on free transfers. A squad that already looked thin now has holes everywhere.

The response from the club is clear. They need a statement signing in midfield, someone to build around rather than merely plug a gap. Wharton fits that brief, but he comes with a brutal price tag.

Palace are demanding around £100m. Their stance has been hardened by the market, not least after Elliot Anderson’s £116m move from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City earlier in the window. With that benchmark set, Palace see no reason to compromise.

For a time, that fee cooled Liverpool’s interest and pushed them towards Gomes. Internal talks have since flipped the strategy. The message now is simple: if they are going to spend, they will spend on the player they believe can transform the side.

Iraola’s ideal midfielder

Iraola’s football is built on sharp possession and ruthless transitions. His teams play on the front foot, with the ball and without it. To do that in the Premier League, he needs a midfielder who can dictate tempo, cover ground, and protect the back line without surrendering quality on the ball.

Wharton ticks those boxes.

Comfortable as a natural No.6, he offers the kind of platform that could free Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister to move higher, into the spaces where they can hurt teams. Instead of asking them to anchor games, Liverpool could finally let them attack with greater freedom.

The club have shown before that they will pay big when they are convinced. Last year they broke the British transfer record twice, landing Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. The precedent is there. The question is whether they are prepared to do it again for a 22-year-old with one standout season behind him.

A deal Liverpool can’t afford to miss?

Palace’s valuation remains a major obstacle, and there has been no formal bid yet. But the intent is unmistakable. Internal doubts over spreading the budget on multiple “value” options have given way to a more aggressive stance: secure the top target, then build around him.

For Liverpool, this is about more than one player. It’s about the direction of the post-Salah, post-Robertson, post-Konaté era. Last season was deeply disappointing; the club cannot afford another campaign spent chasing rather than challenging.

They have nailed their colours to the mast. Adam Wharton is the priority. Now the pressure sits squarely on Liverpool and FSG: pay the price and reshape the midfield, or blink and risk watching another cornerstone of the future line up somewhere else.