'Wait and see' - Newcastle United and Crystal Palace given major transfer hint over £25m Blackburn Rovers star

Blackburn Rovers will demand £25m for midfielder Adam Wharton amid great interest from the Premier League. Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur have all been linked with a move for the 19-year-old this month.

Whilst the Magpies and Spurs have simply been credited with an interest in the teenager, Palace have submitted a concrete bid, but saw their offer of £18.5m rejected by Rovers last week. Fresh reports have hinted that Palace will come back with another offer for Wharton, believed to be in the region of £22m. Newcastle United are also interested in the midfielder, but are not likely to move for him this window amid financial constraints created by the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Regulations.

However, Rovers are determined to keep hold of Wharton and may ask to loan back the midfielder until the end of the season if an agreement with Palace can be reached. Wharton, who turns 20 next month, came through the youth ranks at Ewood Park and has featured 29 times in all competitions for Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side this season.

Tomasson was asked about the midfielder’s future following their win over Wrexham on Monday night and admitted that the club could lose the midfielder, but reiterated his and the club’s desire to continue working with Wharton and aid his development. Tomasson said: "We know what I think about Adam, he is a great player and I enjoy working with him daily.

"We know there are a lot of rumours. Adam is a great player, and maybe, one day an England player in time. There's a chance he could go away, that's football, that is life.

"We know our Rovers family are proud of Adam if he plays here or another club. Will that be tomorrow, in the summer or the next year? Let's wait and see.

"Everyone is ambitious, Adam enjoys playing our kind of football. If a player gets the opportunity to play Premier League football, it's not a difficult choice.

"What I said before, there was a bid and the club said no. That was a good choice. There are a few days left and hopefully, we'll get some signings in those days."

He added: "When all of these things are happening around a young man, we have to protect him. He's played a lot of minutes and it was a chance to give other players a chance."

The former Denmark international will welcome his former side Newcastle United to Ewood Park in the FA Cup Fifth Round after his side defeated Wrexham 4-1. Newcastle defeated Blackburn 4-2 at Ewood Park the last time these sides met in the FA Cup back in 2019. That match, which was a replay after the initial game at St James’ Park ended in a 1-1 draw, saw Newcastle triumph in extra-time courtesy of goals from Joselu and Ayoze Perez. Sean Longstaff and Callum Roberts had put the Magpies 2-0 up early on before Rafa Benitez’s side were then pegged back and forced into an extra 30 minutes of action.