One moment in Saturday’s FA Cup final could now spell bad news for Crystal Palace No.20 Adam Wharton.
The showpiece event at Wembley saw Manchester United stun Manchester City to secure a 13th FA Cup, as goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo sealed a 2-1 win.
However – if he was watching – Crystal Palace wonderkid Adam Wharton may have felt slightly rocked by what happened in the 39th minute…
Adam Wharton could now miss out on UEFA EURO 2024
As you may have seen, the £22m Crystal Palace man earned a place in Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for UEFA EURO 2024 – which left Chris Richards delighted.
However, seven must be cut from this squad by Friday 7th June, and Wharton is arguably most at risk along with Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah – given the fact they are the only three uncapped players in the provisional squad, and also the only ones never to previously receive a senior call up.
The aforementioned Mainoo is another candidate to drop out for a similar lack of international experience, with the general feeling being that Southgate will keep either the Manchester United No.37 or Wharton, but not both.
Therefore, our midfield maestro was presumably gutted when the 19-year-old arrived to put Manchester United 2-0 up in the 39th minute on Saturday, before eventually going on to receive the official Man of the Match award thanks to an outstanding performance.
Southgate was in attendance at Wembley, and while Mainoo’s display doesn’t make Wharton any less of a tremendous footballer, playing so well on such a large stage will surely entice the England boss to select the Manchester United wonderkid for a tournament as significant as UEFA EURO 2024.
Of course, both could still be on the plane, but with seven players needing to be cut, this FA Cup final masterclass has most likely tipped the balance in Mainoo’s favour – in our view at least.
Not all bad for Crystal Palace
While it would be great to see Wharton shine at a major international tournament, staying behind in south London still carries some positives.
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Above all, the Blackburn-born playmaker would be able to get a full pre-season of work alongside Oliver Glasner under his belt if he doesn’t go to UEFA EURO 2024, which could see him become even better in the 2024/25 campaign.
Additionally, Wharton is still quite a new face having only arrived at Selhurst Park in January, so it will be good for the youngster to continue gelling with his teammates.
Having said that, we would still love to see the Crystal Palace No.20 shining at UEFA EURO 2024 – be sure to keep an eye out for Southgate’s final squad.
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