Wharton

Arsenal want to sign Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez, Aston Villa hijack Newcastle‘s move for Johan Manzambi, and Pep Guardiola is on the shortlist to become Italy manager

Arsenal are attempting to sign Atletico Madrid and Argentina striker Julian Alvarez, 26, before pre-season begins. (Independent), external

Aston Villa are finalising a move for Freiburg and Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi, 20, who was on course to join Newcastle. (Athletic – requires subscription) , external

Manchester City‘s former Spanish boss Pep Guardiola, 57, is on the shortlist to become the new Italy manager after Paulo Maldini was appointed as the country’s technical head. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external

Bayern Munich remain confident they will tie England striker Harry Kane, 32, down to a new long-term contract despite growing interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs including Real Madrid. (TeamTalk), external

Sassuolo defender Tarik Muharemovic remains a target for Premier League clubs with Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds and Bournemouth all keen on the 23-year-old Bosnia-Herzegovina international. (Corriere dello Sport via Football Italia), external

Chelsea are looking at a move for Crystal Palace and England midfielder Adam Wharton after Liverpool and Manchester United both cooled their interest in the 22-year-old. (Caught Offside), external

Roma want 22-year-old Chelsea and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho and are also interested in Belgium winger Diego Moreira, 21, from Chelsea‘s sister club Strasbourg. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external

Manchester United‘s Czech goalkeeper Radek Vitek, 22, is wanted by Celtic after some impressive displays on loan at Bristol City last season. (Football Insider), external

Atalanta have held discussions with Ederson over extending his contract after a deal to move to Manchester United broke down. Newcastle are still interested in the 27-year-old Brazil midfielder. (L’Eco di Bergamo – in Italian) , external

Sunderland are aiming to make Roma’s 23-year-old Argentinian winger Matias Soule their first signing of the summer. He is valued at around €35m (£30m) (Northern Echo), external

Newcastle have held talks over Parma and Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, 23, as they look to secure a new main goalkeeper. (Newcastle Chronicle), external

Tottenham and Newcastle are both interested in Manchester City‘s 27-year-old Egypt midfielder Omar Marmoush. (TeamTalk), external

Tottenham are the latest club interested in Adam Wharton, Liverpool are yet to agree a deal for Yan Diomande, and Fulham fail with their opening bid for Chibuike Nwaiwu.

Tottenham are ready to test the water with a bid for Crystal Palace‘s 22-year-old England midfielder Adam Wharton. (Teamtalk), external

RB Leipzig have turned down an offer of £87m from Liverpool for 19-year-old Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande as they want £113m. (Liverpool Echo), external

Fulham have had a £17m bid rejected by Turkish club Trabzonspor for 22-year-old Nigeria defender Chibuike Nwaiwu. (Fotomac – in Turkish), external

Bayern Munich want to give 24-year-old France winger Michael Olise a lucrative new contract in order amid interest from Real Madrid and Liverpool. (Mirror), external

Tottenham are not planning to make a move for 24-year-old Marseille striker Mason Greenwood, while Roma are currently short of the asking price. (Mail), external

Everton, Tottenham and newly promoted Ipswich are looking to sign 22-year-old Cameroon forward Karl Etta Eyong from Levante this summer. (Teamtalk), external

Celtic turned down a £25m bid from Nottingham Forest in January for 22-year-old Belgium midfielder Arne Engels but are open to offers, with Crystal Palace and Borussia Dortmund also interested. (Football Insider), external

Leeds are interested in signing Southampton’s Northern Ireland midfielder Shea Charles, who is valued at more than £20m, this summer. (Mail), external

Leeds are also looking at a move for Germany forward Julian Brandt, 30, who is a free agent this summer after leaving Borussia Dortmund. (Yorkshire Evening Post), external

Wolves are keen on bringing Scotland striker Che Adams, 29, back from Torino this summer. (Tuttomercato – in Italian), external

Barcelona weigh up move for Piero Hincapie, Ruben Dias instructs agents to explore move away from Manchester City and Liverpool pushing for quick agreement with Yan Diomande.

Barcelona are weighing up an approach for 24-year-old Arsenal and Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie. (Mail) , external

Manchester City and Portugal defender Ruben Dias, 29, has instructed his agent to explore options for a move away, with Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid all monitoring his situation. (Caught Offside), external

Liverpool are pushing for a quick agreement with RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, while Paris St-Germain and Manchester City are closely monitoring the situation and have already held talks with the 19-year-old Ivory Coast international. (Florian Plettenberg), external

Crystal Palace want to convince England midfielder Adam Wharton, 22, and Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada, 29, to stay following their Conference League final win. (Sky Sports) , external

Bournemouth are determined to resist any summer offers for French forward Eli Junior Kroupi, 19, Brazil winger Rayan, 19, and England midfielder Alex Scott, 22, with mounting interest in the trio. (Guardian), external

Manchester United and Chelsea are among the clubs considering a move for Scott in the summer transfer window. (Teamtalk), external

West Ham and Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug wants to leave after their relegation with Bundesliga side Werder Bremen among those interested in the 33-year-old. (Sky, in German), external

Portuguese side Sporting want to re-sign 30-year-old Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha when his season-long loan at Tottenham from Bayern Munich ends. (A Bola, in Portuguese), external

Leeds United are lining up a move for 24-year-old Lyon and United States midfielder Tanner Tessmann as part of a busy summer of transfer business. (Football Insider) , external

Manchester City are considering their options if Brazil winger Savinho, 22, who is a target for Tottenham, ends up leaving the club. (Fabrizio Romano) , external

There was certainly some surprise when England boss Tuchel opted to leave Wharton out of his 26-man squad heading to the World Cup.

Palace may have not had a great domestic season given they finished 15th in the Premier League and went out of the FA Cup against non-League Macclesfield – but they have now won a European trophy and Wharton was hugely influential in that.

This Conference League final performance was another reason to be wondering why Wharton is not on the plane.

The decision to pick Brentford midfielder Henderson at the age of 35 over the 22-year-old Wharton may be the most eye-catching and surprising selection.

Henderson has obviously been picked for his experience but Wharton would probably have more to give on the pitch if you compare not only their performances this season but also last term.

“I understand why the manager has taken Henderson but for me if he is going to do that kind of job, take him as a coach,” said Hoddle. “Take him as a player-coach if you like but I think there was a spot there for Wharton.”

The re-emergence of Mainoo at Manchester United has also not helped Wharton given the Palace midfielder was in Tuchel’s squads for the last two international breaks and featured in qualifiers against Serbia and Albania before a friendly appearance against Uruguay in March.

Mainoo, given he was being frozen out at Old Trafford by Ruben Amorim for the first half of the season, was not involved under Tuchel until the March friendlies and now has won his way into favour.

Both were at Euro 2024 but Wharton never got on the pitch while Mainoo started all four knockout games, including the final.

Arsenal‘s Declan Rice is surely one of the first names on the team-sheet and Elliot Anderson is expected to partner him while Tuchel also has Bellingham, Eze and Rogers as midfield options.

It certainly feels a very harsh decision to leave someone like Wharton at home, even if Tuchel has many choices in the position.