Blackburn Rovers will only let Adam Wharton leave if they receive an ‘unbelievable’ offer with Premier League duo Leeds United and Newcastle among the teenagers admirers.
If Bristol City’s ‘Guernsey Grealish’ Alex Scott was a clear frontrunner for the Championship’s Young Player of the Season award, then 18-year-old Adam Wharton was perhaps his clearest challenger.
The Blackburn Rovers academy graduate made quite the splash during his breakthrough season in senior football, forcing his way into the England U19 squad along the way.
According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United are among Wharton’s growing throng of admirers; Magpies director Dan Ashworth watching the teenager in the flesh during a number of scouting missions.
Ashworth earned a reputation during his time at Brighton for unearthing young talent brimming with potential. And Wharton – a classy central midfielder who plays the game with a maturity and a composure well beyond his years – certainly ticks that particular box.
Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Brighton like Adam Wharton
“Adam has done brilliant,” Blackburn chief Gregg Broughton tells LancsLive. “We gave him a five-year contract and he has four years left.
“He has really taken on board the messages that have been given to him by the coaches. That was reflected in his performances at the back end of the season.
“He has done that brilliantly.”
Born and raised in Blackburn, Wharton is living the dream at his hometown club. The blue-and-white blood running through his veins, you would presume, will give Rovers a boost as they look to retain one of the most exciting teenagers outside of the Premier League.
“He is on a long-term contract. He is happy here. And he is a Blackburn boy through and through,” Broughton adds. “Ultimately, we have to be a player-trading club. But it’s now up to us, in communication with the player, to decide when is the right time to move.
“It would take something unbelievable for that to happen this summer with Adam.”
Brighton secured European football for the very first time by beating Southampton 3-1 on Sunday. Newcastle went one step further a day later; Champions League qualification done and dusted following a goalless draw with Leicester City.
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