Adam Wharton’s pre-match training ritual came into the public eye last weekend.
The Crystal Palace midfielder has become one of his side’s most important players over the course of the past few seasons.
With 10 appearances to his name this season already, the 21-year-old added those stats to his 27 outings last term to take his numbers with the Eagles to 53 in total from all competitions.
The playmaker has a serious future in the game with Manchester United already being urged to sign Wharton earlier in the summer transfer window before the Red Devils turned attentions elsewhere.
Wharton is an England international and his talents are clear, but one punter over the weekend witnessed part of the youngster’s pre-match routine at the Hill Dickinson Stadium that appeared interesting.
As the rest of his teammates prepared with passing drills, shooting efforts and ball techniques, Wharton was spotted in his own world taking his own preparation.
Manchester United target Adam Wharton’s unique match prep
The social media user explained how Wharton seemed “robotic” in his warm-up as he planned what might happen during the game and how he would spot danger and create chances.
The user shared a clip of Wharton scanning his surroundings and wrote: “State of this from Adam Wharton man.
“Part of his is warm up is just constantly scanning the pitch like a shark swimming around a tank, they say Haaland’s a robot, this kid is like a drone with all the radar sensors and GPS.
“Unbelievable player.”
Wharton’s actions on the short clip racked up thousands of likes and shares with plenty of fans – Palace and otherwise – jumping in to applaud and discuss.
State of this from Adam Wharton man. Part of his is warm up is just constantly scanning the pitch like a shark swimming around a tank, they say Haaland’s a robot, this kid is like a drone with all the radar sensors and GPS. Unbelievable player
@HLTCO – you’ll appreciate this pic.twitter.com/lsvzYrRK3g— Albert E Oater (@EwoodTerraces) October 6, 2025
Fans divided over Wharton warm-up as he’s hailed as ‘Pep Man City signing’
One fan wrote: “He’s got Pep signing written all over him to me,” as another commented: “He’s getting the feel of the pitch and the stadium, he’s tuning in.”
One added: “He’s going all the way. Tommy Tuchel can’t stop him.” A fourth wrote: “Top drawer this lad.”
Others were less than convinced regarding the warm-up with some claiming the user had looked too far into nothing.
One said: “The guy is literally just looking around during a warm up, you can’t play midfield and not look around,” as a second commented: “This isn’t some monumental concept or skill but it’s nice to see him use it in his warm up routine.”
Manchester United are reportedly now keen on Wharton but have other transfer options on their radar for January as well as next summer.
