Gareth Southgate has claimed that England’s players have already noticed the ‘quality’ of a Tottenham Hotspur target.
Tottenham fans will be keeping a keen eye on James Maddison over the coming days as the midfielder bids to make the final cut for Euro 2024.
Maddison impressed after replacing Chelsea star Cole Palmer against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday evening.
Spurs will also be interested to see how Eberechi Eze fares should he be named in Gareth Southgate’s final 26-man squad.
Tottenham are reportedly planning talks with Crystal Palace over the signing of Eze this month, while Conor Gallagher is also of interest.
Another Spurs target who has emerged as a real contender to head to the tournament in Germany this summer is Adam Wharton.
The youngster has earned a surprise call-up to the England squad after impressing at Selhurst Park since his January switch from Blackburn Rovers.
Wharton was previously on Spurs’ radar before his move to south London and the club are continuing to monitor his progress.
Following an eye-catching debut for England last night, Wharton has earned huge praise from Southgate.
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Southgate makes claim about Tottenham target Wharton
Wharton earned his first cap for England on Monday evening after replacing former Spurs star Kieran Trippier in the 62nd minute.
As has been the case in his first few months of Premier League football, Wharton caught the eye with his incisive passing and ability to play through the lines.
His display led to praise from Southgate, who claimed that England’s players have already picked up on his quality.
“I thought Adam Wharton showed what he’s been doing at the end of the season and in training,” the England boss said in his post-match press conference. “He sees pictures early, he can play forward. It’s obviously very early for him but lovely that he looked as comfortable as he did.”
“Why did we bring him in? We saw things in his performances for his club that showed he… the biggest thing for us is the ability to see a picture and play forward early,” Southgate added. “That sounds really simple but that hasn’t been so simple for us over seven to eight years, that type of player.
“There’s a lot still ahead of him, a lot of adjustment, but I think the other players have recognised his quality very quickly. When you see the positions they take, the way they interact on the training pitch, you know when players see something.
“Whenever we call a new player in they always doubt what we’re doing because they think we haven’t got a clue what we’re doing. They work with these youngsters and they go ‘oh right, now we see why’ because we obviously watch them far more than anyone else.
“I think he showed in the little cameo today what we’ve seen in training in the last week and we’ve seen with his club. Big steps to come and more steps to go forward but he’s adapting and adjusting to everything really well.”
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Tottenham will rue missing out on Wharton
It’s no secret that Spurs are aiming to bolster Ange Postecoglou’s options in the middle of the park this summer.
Tottenham were previously linked with a move for Wharton but seem to have missed a huge opportunity after his £18 million move to Palace in January.
Wharton has since starred under Oliver Glasner in the middle of the park and is exactly the type of profile Spurs are lacking at the moment.