Liverpool's Midfield Dilemma: Should They Spend Big on Adam Wharton?

Liverpool’s midfield debate has burst back into life, and this time the call is simple: spend big, or risk standing still.

With three weeks left in the transfer window, Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has thrown a £100m gauntlet at Liverpool’s feet, urging his boyhood club to go all in on Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton.

A fan with a platform, and a clear target

MacAnthony, never shy with an opinion, used his appearance on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan show to make a pointed case. For him, the area Liverpool have left untouched this summer is the one that needs surgery most.

Liverpool have already moved decisively in other departments. Jeremy Jacquet has arrived to bolster the back line, Ronald Araujo has come in on loan, and Victor Munoz has been added out wide. Harvey Elliott has returned from his short-lived spell at Aston Villa, but the core of the midfield remains largely as it was.

That, MacAnthony believes, is a mistake.

“I’d love them to sign Adam Wharton,” he said, before turning the spotlight on Alexis Mac Allister’s engine. “I think Mac Allister, for me, his legs were gone last year. It was only when he put an Argentina shirt on that his legs reappeared.

“If you could do business there with him going, I think you bring [Wharton] in and you’ve got a player for the next seven, eight years that will be a starter. He’s got so much upside and potential in him. Even if he costs £85m-£100m or whatever else, you’re getting the player for the long-term.”

A fan’s emotion, yes, but with a cold, modern price tag attached.

A £100m question in a crowded window

There is a problem. Liverpool are already deep into one big-money chase.

The club are pursuing Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, a move that would demand a significant fee and attention at the top of the recruitment department. To then pivot, late in the window, towards another marquee signing in Wharton would require a dramatic shift in strategy and spending.

Earlier in the summer, Wharton’s name did appear on the Liverpool radar, with reports linking the Palace midfielder to Anfield. Those whispers have faded. No live negotiations, no active talks being briefed, no sense of an imminent bid.

What has not faded is Wharton’s stock.

At 22, he has already drawn high-profile praise. Declan Rice has labelled him a “top-level” player, and Wharton’s 70 Premier League appearances for Crystal Palace have backed that up with substance, not just style.

The hole at the heart of the pitch

Liverpool, on paper, are not short of midfielders. Numbers aren’t the issue. Profiles are.

The absence of an elite, natural No.6 continues to hang over this squad, and it surfaced again in painful clarity during the defeat to Monaco on Sunday. A 2-0 lead dissolved, and with it the structure of the team.

The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle described how the side “became disjointed and far too easy to play through” once they were in control. James Pearce, writing for The Athletic, underlined the strategic concern: the failure to sign a specialist holding midfielder to ease the burden on Ryan Gravenberch remains “a worry”.

This is where Wharton enters the conversation with more than just a highlight reel.

He is not a destroyer in the classic sense, not a blood-and-thunder tackler who lives for sliding challenges. But he wins the ball, and he uses it with purpose. Last season’s Premier League data, via Fotmob, paints the picture: high percentile rankings for recoveries, chances created, and possession won in advanced areas. He reads the game, steps in, and turns defensive moments into attacking platforms.

Not the archetypal No.6, but a modern one. A midfielder who can both protect and provoke.

Long-term vision vs short-term reality

Liverpool’s dilemma is not about whether Wharton is good enough. His performances, his numbers, and the respect of peers like Rice answer that.

The question is whether Liverpool are willing — or able — to drop £85m-£100m on a midfielder in the same window they are chasing another expensive attacking talent. Whether Fenway Sports Group want to commit that level of investment to a position they have, so far, chosen to patch rather than transform.

For now, the expectation is clear: Wharton is unlikely to walk through the Shankly Gates before this window shuts. The links have cooled, the focus lies elsewhere, and the clock is ticking.

But the need at the base of Liverpool’s midfield has not gone away. It showed against Monaco. It showed at times last season. It will show again when the tempo rises and the margins shrink.

MacAnthony’s plea may go unanswered this month. The idea behind it won’t. How long can a club with Liverpool’s ambitions keep ignoring the one position that keeps exposing them?