•  Blackburn Rovers midfielder Adam Wharton is attracting attention from several top clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool, and Newcastle.
•  Crystal Palace want to get to the front of the queue for his signature.
•  Reports claim that a loan deal for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi could potentially be used as a sweetener in any Wharton deal this summer.

Ever since his debut for the club last season, Blackburn Rovers midfielder Adam Wharton is a man that has been attracting plenty of attention.

Indeed, dubbed a future star, in the last year, the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Newcastle, Everton and Brighton and Hove Albion have all watched the youngster or been linked at some stage.

In fact, back in April, it was reported by the Daily Mail that Newcastle United’s Dan Ashworth was one of 30 scouts looking at the young midfielder.

This all comes despite Wharton having played just 26 times as a senior player for Rovers.

One team, though, is trying to get a jump on their fellow Premier League rivals and get to the front of the queue for the player, and that is Crystal Palace.

What has been reported about Crystal Palace’s interest in Adam Wharton?

That is the case according to Alan Nixon via Patreon, who reports on Sunday morning that Dougie Friedman – the man in charge of transfers at Crystal Palace – watched Wharton in action last week.

Furthermore, Nixon claims that Friedman is keen to find an agreement either now or for next summer, also claiming that Blackburn could be open to a sell and loan back agreement for the right price this time around.

With Blackburn also keen on a loan deal for Crystal Palace youngster Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Nixon reveals that Palace could also potentially use the 20-year-old as a sweetener in the deal.

That could see Rak-Sakyi loaned to Ewood Park this summer.

Finally, the report above reveals that Everton are ‘desperate’ to sign Wharton, but have yet been unable to offload the players needed to sign him.

How long does Adam Wharton have left on his contract?

Amid the interest in his signature, fortunately, Blackburn Rovers have put themselves in a fantastic position contractually.

Indeed, last summer, in 2022, knowing his potential, Rovers tied Wharton down on a brand new five-year deal.

This means that the 19-year-old is contracted at Ewood Park until the summer of 2027.

Of course, this does not necessarily mean that Wharton will remain at the club until then, but it does mean that the decision to sell or not is firmly in Blackburn Rovers’ hands.

Would swapping Jesurun Rak-Sakyi as part of the deal for Wharton be a good move?

I think these two things have to be taken in isolation.

For example, I do not think that getting Jesurun Rak-Sakyi on loan for the season is enough to justify selling Adam Wharton alone.

However, let’s say Palace make a substantial bid for Wharton that Rovers feel is close to what they feel acceptable, then Rak-Sakyi being included in the deal would be a decent addition.

In that sense, Rak-Sakyi would be a nice potential sweetener in any deal, but not the reason for it happening.

It must be said, though, given how Rak-Sakyi performed in League One last season, scoring 15 league goals and registering eight league assists, the prospect of seeing him step up to the Championship this campaign is an exciting one.