YOUNG English star Adam Wharton has been a sensation since joining the Eagles from Blackburn for just £18million in January.
His progress since then has been so spectacular that German giants Bayern Munich are planning to spend £60million signing him this summer.
So what’s all the fuss about, for a player who was in the Championship just a few months ago?
Palace, then under Roy Hodgson, were desperate for an injection of life in midfield but there were concerns over paying a large fee for such a young player.
But the South Londoners, under director of football Dougie Freedman, have a fine record of recruiting from the Championship, and Wharton, 20, is another gem.
Those who know Wharton say he is never phased by taking the next step – making his start to life in the Premier League the norm for an exceptionally talented young player.
Darragh Tuffy, who coached Wharton as a youth player at Blackburn, told SunSport: “All through his age groups he had this weird ability to never be phased by anything.
“I watch him in the Premier League now and he is playing passes that he used to do in training.
“He doesn’t get phased by pressure, you just can’t teach that.
“He looks like he is in total control of what he is doing, takes the ball under pressure and looks like the calmest man on the pitch.”
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Wharton’s creative ability in midfield and eye for a pass has blown Palace fans, as well as Hodgson and then new boss Oliver Glasner away.
Past coaches say it is a natural trait, something which stood out before he was even ten, and a side of his game which was needed as one of the smallest players on the pitch as a kid.
Tuffy added: “He was always the smallest player in his age group coming through, a real late developer physically.
“In games that was never a problem for him.
“He was always able to stand out with his technical attributes which he still does now. He didn’t hit his growth spurt until 17.
“We knew he was going to come through that and as long as he carried on doing what he was good at we were going to have a really good footballer on our hands.”
Wharton’s older brother, Scott, still plays for Blackburn and was a towering player in the academy which, along with maturation tests which predict a player’s eventual height, gave coaches the confidence the smallest lad on the pitch would grow into something special.
Being small early on helped mould a technically gifted player.
Wharton’s nonchalant style had teachers at Moorland, the private school where Blackburn send players, comparing him to Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle – before he earned the nickname “Messi”.
Charlie Jackson, who taught Wharton at Moorland having previously worked with United star Scott McTominay, told SunSport: “All our sessions were pass and move and he’d jump all over them, it was meat and drink for him.
“He creates but sees the game, it’s like he has a crystal ball.
“When I played him for school, you wouldn’t see him for 20 minutes in the game – he’d just go missing – and then all of a sudden you’d see a pass which is Maradona-esque.
“Then he’s on it again and gets man of the match.”
They were traits which caught Palace’s eye early on.
Freedman even started scouting the boyhood Blackburn fan, who joined the club at Under-six level, before he had made his senior debut – a game in which he won man of the match.
That effort and interest was not lost on Wharton and his representatives when it came to making a move in January, with Chelsea having also been keen.
The move to the capital from sleepy Lancashire is a big one, especially with Wharton living in the thick of it not far from central London.
But the England Under-21 has always been bright and intelligent, able to adapt to anything.
Jackson added: “Oh, he didn’t even have to revise for GCSEs.
“I use him as an example to the GCSE boys. He was an all-rounder with his head screwed on.
“Adam could turn himself into anything.
“He lived near British Aerospace with his parents and I used to say he could be a rocket scientist and work there, that is how bright he was.”
The world of rocket science may have lost a potential star – but Crystal Palace, and one day Bayern Munich, have certainly bagged one.
