Arsenal have been touted for a huge move for Adam Wharton, as Mikel Arteta gets serious about rebuilding his midfield.
The Gunners are on course for a third successive second-placed finish, with Liverpool looking like pipping them to the title this weekend when they face Tottenham Hotspur – who like Arsenal, have one eye on European glory as the Premier League season wraps up.
With Mikel Arteta looking towards the summer and potential options to strengthen his squad, midfield will be a key area going forward, as one deal is reportedly already wrapped up.
Arsenal tipped to complete Adam Wharton move, with Thomas Partey set for release
This season has seen Arsenal star Thomas Partey play 46 times – already the most he's ever managed across a season since moving to England in 2020 – but with the star now 31, the club have decided to release him at the end of his contract, as per Football Insider.
With fellow no.6 Jorginho looking like leaving this summer, too, there could be huge flux in the Emirates engine room, with Martin Zubimendi's move to N5 all but complete, as per a report from Sami Mokbel in the Mail earlier this year.
With two defensive-minded midfielders exiting and Mikel Merino impressing higher up the pitch, former Premier League star Owen Hargreaves has claimed on Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel that Adam Wharton is a player “two steps ahead”, who Arteta could sign this summer.
“He gets in your team,” Hargreaves – ranked no.25 FourFourTwo's list of the best English midfielders ever – claimed. “If Mikel Arteta saw him he’d go, ‘that’s my guy’: say if Thomas Partey leaves, Wharton is a player.
“The thing with Adam that’s crazy is his vision. He’s two steps ahead. His reading of the game when you watch him… his vision and his touch is almost as good as anyone.”
Hargreaves also linked his former club Manchester United with the Crystal Palace star – though FourFourTwo understands that Wharton is not on the radar for Arsenal this summer with Zubimendi expected to join.
It remains most likely that Arsenal will enter next season with Zubimendi and Declan Rice as options as no.6s, with Martin Odegaard, Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino as no.8s.
There is then one more spot in midfield that could be filled on occasion by other players primarily used elsewhere.
Myles Lewis-Skelly is a natural midfielder who has functioned at left-back this season, while Arteta has persisted with Kai Havertz from a midfield role – which we could see more of, should the Gunners sign a new striker – and with the likes of teenager Max Dowman breaking into side from the academy and Fabio Vieira returning from loan, Arteta may choose to keep another player around as cover across minimal minutes next term.
Wharton is worth €35 million, as per Transfermarkt. Arsenal and Palace face each other this week, as Premier League action returns.
