Crystal Palace No.20 Adam Wharton continued his rapid rise in 2024 by making his England debut against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday evening.
The 20-year-old had only previously made a single appearance for the England U21 side, with Gareth Southgate quick to draft him into the senior setup thanks to his stunning performances under Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace.
In his 28 minutes on the pitch, Adam Wharton actually did something that no other England player has achieved since records began…
What Adam Wharton did in England 3-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Remarkably, the £22m man didn’t lose the ball once in his 28 minutes on the pitch – and certainly didn’t shy away from taking possession either.
Wharton attempted 36 passes in roughly half an hour on his England debut, leaving St James’ Park with a 100% success rate – something no other player has done for the Three Lions since Opta started recording passing data in August 2008.
That really is quite something.
Crucially, almost every pass from Wharton was a progressive one, with the Blackburn-born maestro always thinking positively and looking to get England on the attack, rather than take the safe option.
In truth, nobody would have begrudged the youngster for taking the easy option on his debut, although he performed like a man eager to travel to UEFA EURO 2024 and not allow this opportunity to pass him by.
Crystal Palace have truly struck gold
There wasn’t much clamour amongst Crystal Palace fans for a new central midfielder to be signed in January, as we already had Jefferson Lerma, Will Hughes, David Ozoh, Jairo Riedewald, Naouirou Ahamada and also Cheick Doucoure to come back.
However, we’re glad Dougie Freedman decided to snap Wharton up anyway, as we could genuinely be looking at a £100m sale within a few years, after Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo moved for similar fees.
Rarely have we seen a young midfielder take to the Premier League – and also international football – so comfortably.
To put it simply, Crystal Palace have a potential superstar on their hands in Wharton.
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