Paul Parker is keen to see Adam Wharton sign for Manchester United (UEFA via Getty)
Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has urged the club to sign Adam Wharton and believes the Crystal Palace midfielder is a better passer than Bruno Fernandes.
United are in the market for a new central midfielder as they close in on completing their £52 million move to sign Lille defender Leny Yoro.
Wharton, meanwhile, made an immediate impact in the Premier League following his £22m transfer from Blackburn Rovers to Crystal Palace in February and the 20-year-old has already attracted interest from Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
But Parker has urged his former club United to also be in the race to sign the England international this summer.
‘His range of passing is fantastic,’ Parker said of Wharton in an interview with mybettingsites.co.uk.
‘He very rarely gives it away. He’s always positive with his passing as well. Very, very positive. I think he’s got a long range. His longer range of passing is good.
‘Bruno’s is good, but I think he’s better. He doesn’t give the ball away as cheaply as Bruno.’
Adam Wharton is a better passer than Bruno Fernandes, claims Paul Parker (Anadolu via Getty)
Parker also believes Palace would be ready to sell Wharton for £50m this summer and is ‘amazed’ that the midfielder remained in the Championship for so long.
‘If you’re Crystal Palace unless someone comes in with a really, really stupid offer you’re not going to let him go. Especially the way they finished the season,’ Parker said.
‘The manager is going to want to try and keep that going because the way they finished the season was incredible. The football they were playing had gone to another level, so he’s going to want to keep that level going.
‘But you have to say if someone does come in, I see them selling for £40m or £50m and after one season. I think every Crystal Palace fan will have to say that’s great business.
‘How much of that can go back into building a team? You’re not going to go and get another one like him, but you could go out and get someone different who has the same impact. And that’s the way a team like Crystal Palace will look at it.
‘That’s the way I think they should look at it. You’re never going to replace him like that because it’s amazing how he stayed in the Championship for so long. And I’ve seen him play quite a few times.
‘He’s made the forward step in Crystal Palace. Easily made the next step to be perfect. If he had gone to, say Man City or if he had gone maybe to Liverpool or anything like that he wouldn’t have. He wouldn’t have started as much because they wouldn’t play him.’
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