‘Extraordinary’ Crystal Palace player snubbed by his country is doing one thing better than everyone else in Premier League
Crystal Palace have an English player in their ranks who is above the rest of the top-flight when it comes to one key metric that many would not expect them to be shining in.
Crystal Palace struggled to get deals done in the summer window as Oliver Glasner became increasingly frustrated at their failures in terms of incomings and outgoings.
Glasner insisted in July that he had been “promised more” by Steve Parish and his board of directors, and things did not get better as Eberechi Eze was sold to Arsenal for £60million in August.
They eventually did get some deals done, including the shrewd signing of Spain international Yeremy Pino from Villarreal, and the Austrian boss has impressed once again with his side currently sixth in the Premier League during this international break.
Thomas Tuchel’s England beat Wales 3-0 in a friendly last week and now face Latvia in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday (14 October), but one Palace man was not included in his latest squad despite the stats showing that he is one of the best creators in the Premier League.
Adam Wharton leads Premier League in big chances created this season
Crystal Palace youngster Adam Wharton has made just one appearance for the England national team as yet, after he was handed his international bow by Gareth Southgate last year in a friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
He was named in Tuchel’s squad for their last round of fixtures against Andorra and Serbia before being forced to pull out due to injury, and despite featuring in 10 games so far this term, he was snubbed by the German boss this time around.
Football Insider recently revealed that Wharton has no plans to leave Palace in January despite strong interest from Liverpool, and the stats up to now show that there may be no better place for him to continue his development than Selhurst Park.
The 21-year-old, who is a holding midfielder and has been mainly praised for his defensive work on and off the ball, actually leads the Premier League in big chances created so far, with five to his name in six league appearances, as revealed by Squawka via X.
According to Opta, a big chance is a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, usually in a one-on-one scenario or from very close range, but Wharton is clearly being let down by his teammates as he is yet to record an assist in the top-flight as yet this term.
The Eagles will obviously not want him to depart anytime soon, and his stats from 2025-26 so far back that notion up as he has won more possessions in the middle third (15) and completed more take-ons (6) than all of his teammates up to now.
What Steve Parish said about Wharton amid new contract talk
Wharton’s ongoing struggle to nail down a place in Tuchel’s Three Lions squad is the only negative in his young career at this moment in time, but he still has the whole season ahead to impress before potentially going to the World Cup next summer.
It is imperative that the club hold on to him in January at least, with recent reports stating that Palace want to hand Wharton a new contract to insert a release clause of over £75m into his terms and cover their backs ahead of a likely exit in the next 12 months.
Eagles chairman Parish recently spoke of his admiration for the 21-year-old and where he believes he can get to in the future in a talkSPORT interview, saying: “I think Adam at some point will want to play either in the Champions League with us – if we can make that happen – or probably with another club.
“He’s an extraordinary talent. I think he’s very committed to the club. If Manchester United want Adam Wharton, there’s nothing really surprising about that. The fact of the matter is, he’s got a long contract to run.”
It is clear that he has no issues with keeping hold of Wharton despite the large fee that is set to come Palace’s way when the midfielder is sold on.
England boss Tuchel will be pretty happy with his current midfield options after strong performances from Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, but Wharton’s form should give him food for thought, especially considering he has added a creative element to his game this season.