Top reporter drops bombshell on Man Utd signing Adam Wharton for £85m

Amid claims Manchester United plan to make Adam Wharton the final piece of their midfield rebuild, a trusted reporter has dropped a surprising update involving Manchester City.

Man Utd entered the summer transfer window aiming to sign three new midfielders. Two have been banked, with Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos signed for a combined £85m.

Progress on arrival No 3 has been slow to say the least, though over the weekend, CaughtOffside claimed the Red Devils were accelerating efforts to sign Adam Wharton from Crystal Palace.

The 22-year-old was among the names heavily linked with a switch to Old Trafford before the window opened, along with Carlos Baleba and Elliot Anderson, the latter of which went on to join Man City.

CaughtOffside claimed Man Utd have finally determined the time is right to step up their pursuit, though Palace are reportedly holding out for £85m, which could pose a problem.

Yet according to trusted reporter, Ben Jacobs, Wharton’s situation right now is actually very quiet, much to Palace’s delight.

Furthermore, Jacobs dropped a bombshell when noting if there’s one club who could make a decisive move for Wharton in the coming weeks, it’s Man City, not Man Utd. The fact United weren’t mentioned at all spoke volumes about their alleged pursuit of the player.

Adam Wharton likelier to join Man City than Man Utd

“Yeah, no real news on Adam Wharton,” began Jacobs when reporting on talkSPORT. “It’s been surprisingly quiet, in fact.

“There were some early enquiries as Chelsea looked at their midfield market, but they’ve now added Jordan Henderson and they tried for Granit Xhaka. And the feeling is that Chelsea need to focus on outgoings rather than incomings anyway.

“Of course, we should point out from Palace’s point of view, they’d love to just keep [Wharton] and will hope that it stays quiet between now and the end of the window.

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“Manchester City are maybe one club to also keep an eye on because they made an enquiry before the window opened.

“As it stands, they’re focused on Ayyoub Bouaddi, advanced talks ongoing with Lille and City would like to sign Bouaddi now, even though Lille would prefer a loan back or a pre-agreement and then the player to move in 2027.

“But it’s not impossible that Manchester City, should Rodri as expected join Barcelona, look for more than one midfielder.

“So we might get a twist towards the end of the window with Adam Wharton. But at the moment, I think one of the biggest surprises of this window is that all of the noise and enquiries came before the window opened. And as far as I’m aware, as of today, Palace haven’t had a single bid.”

Taking to YouTube earlier on Monday, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirmed Man City are closing in on signing Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille.

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However, he was keen to stress Man City WILL sign another big name in midfield after Bouaddi, given Rodri is expected to join Barcelona. Bernardo Silva also left earlier this summer when joining Real Madrid via free agency.

“This (Bouaddi) is not going to be the only signing for Man City in midfield,” declared Romano. “They want to do more.”

As such, Wharton could wind up in Manchester by the time the window closes, but at the Etihad and not Old Trafford.