U21 boss Lee Carsley delivers verdict on Crystal Palace midfielder’s England promotion

BY ANDREW MCSTEEN

England U21 boss Lee Carsley has praised Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton after the midfielder was called into his squad for their UEFA U21 EURO 2025 qualification match against Luxembourg in Bolton this evening.

Wharton had been in the England U20 – now known as the ‘Elite League Squad’ or ELS – but due to the call-ups from the U21 squad to Gareth Southgate’s senior squad for their clash against Belgium at Wembley on Tuesday, Wharton has moved up an age group.

“He’s got a lot of quality, he’s very similar to (Liverpool’s) Tyler Morton in terms of the way and the position that we’ll ask him to play. He’ll probably play a little bit deeper for us [against Luxembourg],” said Carsley about Wharton, who signed for the Eagles at the end of the January transfer window.

“He was close to getting in the original squad, as were two or three other midfielders; we’re really lucky in that position.”

Wharton has made an immediate impact since moving to South London on a five-and-a-half-year deal for a reported £22million, with add-ons.

Just 48 hours after his signing was confirmed, he came on as a 28th-minute substitute in the 4-1 away Premier League loss to Brighton. He has gone on to start the next five league games before the current international break.

“We get updated most Mondays or Tuesdays about the amount of minutes that ‘English Qualified Players’, or ‘EQPs’, have played in the Premier League or Championship,” explained Carsley when asked about the importance of playing regularly in the English top-flight and its effect on selection to the national side.

“It’s, ultimately, just to give Gareth [Southgate] more options to select midfielders or any players that are playing in the Premier League, so it’s massively important that more of our players are playing at the highest level that they can.

“We tend to look at the [changes to the] senior squad and probably forget the knock-on effect that it has with players going up (from the U21s to the seniors). This means players are moving through the pathway underneath,” added Carsley, citing the recent promotion of James Trafford, Rico Lewis and Kobbie Mainoo from his squad to Southgate’s.

“We’re in a strong position. Players like Adam Wharton are moving up. The players that we’ve got in with us now, they include a lot of younger players who are still eligible for not only the Under-19s but for the U20s, ELS too – we’re in a good position, a strong position.”

After being in and around the England set-up when he was younger, Wharton made his England debut for the U19s in September 2022, playing less than a handful of games before being promoted to the U20s the following September (2023), where he linked up with Palace shot-stoppers Owen Goodman and Joe Whitworth.

After just a few appearances at that level, including 56 minutes away against Poland on Friday in a 5-1 win, the Blackburn Rovers 2022-23 Young Player of the Year has now moved up to the U21s.

And while it is likely that squad promotion for Wharton and England will pause for the immediate future, the England U21 boss did not rule out the possibility for players like the Palace midfielder to make the senior squad in time for this summer’s European Championship.

“It’s a big ask, isn’t it?” said Carsley. “It’s similar to what we started talking about with Adam Wharton; if you’re playing week-in, week-out in the Premier League, at a really high level, you’re always in with a chance, you’re generally only one or two injuries away from getting an opportunity, but the main thing is that they’re putting themselves in the race.

“Sometimes you forget how young they are when you see them play, but the international part of what we can provide (with the U21s) is a big part of their development.

“He was quality at Blackburn,” added the England manager about his own personal knowledge of Wharton, who made his first-team debut for the Lancashire club as a 17-year-old, going on to play five 1times before his move to SE25.

“One of the benefits of being on-site (at St. George’s Park) at the same time as the ELS, the U20s, is that if we need players, it’s similar to what the seniors do; if they take two, we’ll take two.

“We’ve had Adam with us before. He’s a player that we know a lot about, good quality.”