Adam Wharton seemed a different player when he returned from Euro 2024, and not in a good way.
Those passes wrapped into the feet of team-mates were not nearly as crisp as in Crystal Palace’s magnificent run-in last season, his tackles less robust, his influence simply less.
Wharton had suffered a groin injury while on his six weeks away with England, and was pushing through the pain in those rotten early months of the Eagles’ season. In November, he finally underwent surgery, before twice returning to training afterwards but twice having to pare back his workload with the aching still present.
At long last, Oliver Glasner has him back. After three promising displays off the bench and 62 minutes in the FA Cup win over Doncaster, Tuesday’s 4-1 rout of Aston Villa was Wharton’s first Premier League start since October as he came in for Jefferson Lerma who had been feeling fatigue in his hamstring.
Palace fans chanted his name in the 63rd minute and again when he made way for Daichi Kamada 15 minutes later.
The effortlessness with which Wharton strolled through games after joining from Blackburn in the second half of last season returned against Villa, as the 21-year-old, a long-term Manchester City target, popped one-touch passes about.
“We said: ‘Okay, Adam, it’s time for you’,” Glasner explained of his decision to start him.
“He was a little bit rusty at the beginning. [John] McGinn was just running over him. But you can see his quality. He adjusted so quickly to the pace of the Premier League again.”
Thomas Tuchel watched with interest from the directors’ box at Selhurst Park, his first England squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia to be named in just over a fortnight’s time.
Will Wharton be in? Who knows, Glasner suggesting in one interview that it’s perhaps best for Wharton's managed return if this time he isn’t. But will Tuchel be monitoring Wharton closely in the weeks and months ahead? Undoubtedly.
The Blackburn academy product swept first-time passes into the path of Will Hughes and Jean-Philippe Mateta early on, and in the second half volleyed a bouncing effort wide of the post.
The indicator of how crucial having him back could prove to be for Palace was his involvement in all three of the goals they scored while he was on.
His cultured left-foot cross into the box from deep was a sumptuous one, allowing Chris Richards to head on goal and birthday-boy Ismaila Sarr to open the scoring via the rebound.
Then came the arrowed pass into Eberechi Eze’s feet from which Mateta made it 2-1 after the break, before Wharton slipped wide for Daniel Munoz to assist Sarr for the third. “When I play with this player, I can score every game,” Mateta told TNT Sports at full-time.
And when Jefferson Lerma was introduced on 58 minutes, it was telling that it was Will Hughes rather than Wharton who was hooked. Hughes has been outstanding for Glasner, yet Wharton had been the star of the show and was rightly named man of the match.
If not blunt, Wharton is at the very least an unassuming speaker, and asked to rate his performance said: “I thought it was alright. Some good things; lots to improve on as well. I’ll watch it back.”
And yes, he and Richards did allow Youri Tielemans to get a fierce run on them as the Villa midfielder raced into the box to plant a first-half header wide, while a risky pass in the final third backfired for Wharton when it was snuffed out, Villa broke away, and Jacob Ramsey scored, only to be flagged offside afterwards. Match minutes will iron out those kinks.
“It’s good to be involved in the goals, but as long as the team wins that’s the main thing,” said the one-cap England man, not all that bothered that Tuchel had been watching on.
“When you play in the Premier League, anybody could be watching. That doesn’t change anything. If he enjoys the performance, then that’s good.”
Of his almost 100 days out, Wharton said: “It’s been difficult. You’ve got family and friends supporting you, helping you. Being on the sidelines, I hate it. There’s nothing worse I’ve been building the fitness back up, coming off the bench a few times, and delighted to be able to start today.”
And there should be more where that came from, with Hughes receiving his 10th yellow card of the season and now suspended for Premier League games against Ipswich and Southampton.
“I’ve got through it now,” Wharton said of his injury. “I’m feeling good.”
