Transfer insider warns Liverpool they’d need to pay ‘a huge fee’ to sign ‘top player’ in 2026 | OneFootball

Liverpool have been warned that they’d need to pay ‘a huge fee’ if they’re to sign one reported transfer target in 2026.

Last week, Mark Brus reported for the Daily Briefing that the Reds are expected to push for a January move for Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, who’s also coveted by Chelsea and Manchester United and would command an expected asking price of £60m in the winter market.

The Premier League champions had agreed a deal to sign the 21-year-old’s teammate Marc Guehi on deadline day three weeks ago, only for the Selhurst Park club to pull the plug on the transaction at the last minute.

One transfer insider has warned Liverpool that they can expect the Eagles to be every bit as firm with their stance on the ex-Blackburn youngster if the Reds or any other prospective suitors were to come knocking.

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Liverpool would find it ‘difficult’ to sign Adam Wharton in January

Speaking on the Inside Track podcast for Football Insider, Pete O’Rourke said: “It’ll be highly unlikely that Palace would entertain any offers for Wharton in January.

“He’s a top player, so if he does become available, it won’t just be Liverpool in the market for him. It’ll be most of the big clubs in the Premier League and top European clubs. He’s under a long-term contract at Palace until 2029, and it would take a huge fee to prise him away.

“We know how difficult Palace are to deal with. Liverpool found that out when they tried to sign Marc Guehi before Palace pulled the plug on that deal.

“They don’t want to lose Wharton, especially not in January because he would be a very difficult player for them to replace, so they’ll be doing everything they can to keep hold of him. We know January is a difficult window to do big deals as well, so I don’t see anything happening in January.”

(Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Are Liverpool likely to pay big bucks for Wharton?

The Eagles have cashed in on other highly coveted assets in recent years such as Wilfried Zaha, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze, but as Liverpool know from the Guehi saga, the south London outfit don’t let their star players leave too readily.

Having won the FA Cup and duly qualified for Europe, Oliver Glasner’s side continue to be upwardly mobile as they sit fourth in the early Premier League table. Indeed, they and the Reds are the only two unbeaten teams in the division after five matchdays, and they face each other at Selhurst Park next Saturday.

If Palace’s strong start to the season turns into more than just that, and if they progress convincingly to the last 16 of the Conference League, they might feel even more confident of keeping Wharton and drive up his asking price further, particularly with the luxury of his contract situation.

The 21-year-old isn’t necessarily a player that Liverpool desperately need, given the plethora of top-class midfield options available to Arne Slot, although signing him would make the champions even more fearsome in that area of the pitch.

As per FBref, he ranks among the top 20% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues over the past year with his match averages for expected assists, shot-creating actions and progressive passes, while former England manager Gareth Southgate hailed his temperament as ‘unflappable’.

FSG would be naive not to expect Palace to charge through the nose for Wharton, but as we saw with the £100m+ acquisitions of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak over the summer, the Anfield powerbrokers aren’t averse to spending big on players who they believe could be genuine game-changers.