Liverpool working on a move to sign £100m star

Liverpool are not the glamorous outfit that they were just one year ago, when Arne Slot lifted the Premier League title in his maiden year.

A remarkable achievement, and one which has cemented the Dutchman’s legacy at Anfield. However, we can’t ignore the staggering decline of 2025/26. We didn’t.

Slot was sacked, and Andoni Iraola is now in place, with his tactics anticipated to bring a faster, more exciting and intense style to the club, who became stale and ponderous last year.

The importance of bouncing right back to the top next term cannot be overstated. Liverpool may not feel like the glamorous outfit they were last summer, but they are still one of the best in the business, and a well-worked summer strategy could carry them right back into the limelight.

Liverpool actively working on marquee signing

Much of the focus regarding Liverpool has been on the frontline, and understandably. With Yan Diomande having played the Reds like a fiddle to leverage a move to Paris Saint-Germain, the need for a Mohamed Salah replacement is still intense.

But Liverpool are also in need of midfield replacements, and with reports concerning Alexis Mac Allister’s future at the club still peppering the rumour mill, it’s one that FSG need to keep a close eye on. Curtis Jones is also a top target for Inter Milan.

However, Liverpool can’t just sign any old midfielder. They need someone significant. Elliot Anderson would have been perfect, but City overpaid for the England international, who will join the Citizens from Nottingham Forest for £116m.

Liverpool do have another English midfielder in their sights, though, with reporter Danny Gallagher revealing that FSG officials are actively working on a deal to sign Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.

The Eagles are interested in signing Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott this summer. So opens the door for a player-plus-cash move. Gallagher believes that things could move quickly if all the stars align here.

One of the most sought-after midfielders in the Premier League, the 23-year-old Wharton could fetch a massive sum this summer, with Palace chairman Steve Parish hoping to bank upwards of £100m.

Why Wharton can be Liverpool’s own Anderson

Wharton was omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions squad for the World Cup, and many expected him to be on the plane, jockeying for a starting berth with the aforementioned Anderson.

Anderson has the starting spot next to Declan Rice; Wharton is watching from afar. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have the quality to star for Liverpool – Trent Alexander-Arnold has been excluded too, of course – and spearhead the Iraola resurgence.

Wharton would join an ever-growing list of big-money English midfielders making their way to Anfield. He would be their own version of Anderson in that, and while the new Man City man’s stock is higher, it could be argued that Wharton is a better fit on Merseyside.

Hailed as a “cheat code” on the ball by analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson, Wharton would break lines and create attacking dimensions at Anfield next season.

He might not bring the same all-action style as Anderson, whose roundedness has won him the limelight at this moment in time for his country, but there is an elegance and innate creativity to Wharton’s skillset that underscores his world-class potential.

Instrumental in Palace winning the FA Cup and the Conference League under Oliver Glasner’s wing, Wharton’s passing has been a real game-changer. He ranked among the top 5% of Premier League midfielders last term for big chances created and the top 3% for expected assists. That is to say, if Liverpool’s strikers get their act together, Wharton could shape a new creative structure.

Wharton is the closest thing England have to a midfield maestro. He wouldn’t look out of place under Luis de la Fuente’s stewardship in Spain.

Given that Liverpool suffered so greatly in building attacking sequences from the middle of the park last year, he could be a transformative signing.