Crystal Palace have opened talks to poach the next Adam Wharton from Rangers

Crystal Palace have one foot in the Conference League final, and now, surely, Oliver Glasner must be dreaming of another title to add to his collection at Selhurst Park.

It is a shame that the Austrian coach is leaving at the end of his contract this summer. Given the stability and success that he has woven into the culture at Selhurst Park, you have to question why he fancies a change of scenery.

After all, Palace will secure a place in the Europa League next season, if they do lift the Conference League title.

However, Glasner isn’t the only one who could be on the move, sadly, with Adam Wharton also being heavily linked with an exit this summer.

The latest on Adam Wharton’s Crystal Palace future

Wharton is one of Crystal Palace’s most valuable players. If he leaves this summer, it will be tough, but the south Londoners have weathered such storms in the past, coming out on top.

Chairman Steve Parish doesn’t want to sell, but if the likes of Liverpool show a willingness to meet the England international’s £80m price tag, it might be too good to resist. The Eagles will need a replacement, though.

As per TEAMtalk, Palace have joined the race for Rangers starlet Bailey Rice, having been named as one of the Premier League teams who are ‘pushing’ to secure his signature.

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are also in the mix, with the trio said to have held initial conversations with the player’s representatives regarding his potential ‘pathway’ at those respective clubs.

The 19-year-old is one of the most exciting prospects in Scotland, but he is expected to leave Ibrox this summer, when his contract expires.

It’s hardly surprising that so many Premier League outfits, like Forest, alongside a string of clubs abroad, have him lined up, but if Palace do lose Wharton, then they could offer the ball-playing star a route into the first team.

Why Bailey Rice could be Palace’s new Wharton

Rice is only 19, but he has the potential to echo his British namesake and become one of the Premier League’s standout midfielders. If he arrives at Selhurst Park this summer, he would find the perfect place to develop, a hothouse for young and talented players.

Competent in central defence, but at home in the middle of the park, Rice is a top talent, comfortable on the ball and progressive in his decisions. In that, he’s not so different from Wharton, and while he has only played a peripheral role for Rangers this season, he has the potential to play the role that Wharton performs so well down the line.

Hailed as a “generational talent” by journalist Matthew Stanger, Wharton is going to be difficult to replace, and no mistake. But in Rice, Palace would welcome a stylistically similar player, someone who has already shown in their homeland that they have the potential to assume a similar tactical role.

In the Premiership this term, he has won 61% of his duels and completed 82% of his passes. Sure, he’s only played eight times, but he has fit right in, and the overload of English interest makes a telling comment on his potential at the highest level.

Fingers crossed, Wharton stays at Crystal Palace next season. However, this is one of the biggest midfield talents in the Premier League, probably all of Europe.

There is a sense that, sooner or later, he will leave, but if the Eagles manage to secure Rice’s signature, they will land themselves a tailor-made replacement, someone who could guide a title-challenging outfit over the coming years.

Forest, potentially set to lose Elliot Anderson this summer, might have ambitions of their own, ensuring Palace might have to do what they can to land Britain’s potential next midfield superstar.