- Midfielder Adam Wharton will undergo surgery on his hernia injury on Sunday
- The 20-year-old should be able to return to action towards the end of November
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off!, available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton will undergo surgery on Sunday to rectify his hernia injury.
The highly-rated 20-year-old has been carrying the injury since the start of the season and Palace took the decision for him to have the operation after he came off early midweek in their Carabao Cup clash with Aston Villa.
Wharton has caught the eye of Manchester City, Man United, Liverpool and Real Madrid with his progression since making the move from Blackburn Rovers last January.
Palace are determined to hold on to the England international until the summer at least but are anticipating enquiries from elite clubs as Wharton continues to shine.
Their initial concern is to get him fit and firing on all cylinders for their Premier League as they look to build on last week’s 1-0 win over Tottenham when Wharton was outstanding.
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton will undergo surgery on his hernia injury on Sunday
Wharton has been carrying the injury all season but it flared up against Aston Villa in midweek
Wharton was substituted off after just 27 minutes of Palace’s EFL Cup victory at Villa Park
Three days earlier, Wharton had performed superbly in Palace’s 1-0 league win over Spurs
With the international break in mind, they hope to have him back towards the end of the month, if all goes well, when they face games against Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
Palace are also without Eberechi Eze and Jefferson Lerma who have suffered hamstring injuries.
Manager Oliver Glasner said: ‘Many managers are talking about the same issues, and especially when we look at our injured players – all who played a long tournament in the summer, having no holidays, having no pre-season and then many, many games.
‘There is a moment when you have to pay the bill, and we had to pay it the last one, two, three weeks, but it is how it is and we are still a strong squad.’