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In July 2023, after a highly successful stint on Merseyside, Brazilian midfielder Fabinho departed Liverpool for Saudi outfit Al Ittihad. Nicknamed “the Lighthouse” by former assistant manager Pep Lijnders, the former Monaco man garnered the nickname for his role at the heart of Jürgen Klopp’s midfield, sitting just in front of the defence and screening the defence.
His replacement was a stop-gap signing after targets such as Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia joined rivals Chelsea instead. Wataro Endo joined on transfer deadline day, intended to be a short-term fix to a role that needed filling.
Today, the Japanese captain turned 33 just a few months ago, and is coming off the back of an injury-laden season. In the last two seasons, under Arne Slot, an unconventional six has been utilised, with Ryan Gravenberch being used to support the backline.
One negative of many in Liverpool’s last season was how the midfield, amongst many things, lacked a strong defensive midfielder like Fabinho was years before. While Gravenberch was excellent in 24/25, it feels clear to most that the Dutchman is not an out-and-out six: at least not in the long term.
Adam Wharton is the current top candidate to arrive at Anfield to fill this role, after another fantastic season with Crystal Palace where his side completed a double with a Community Shield in August book ended with a Conference League triumph in May.
When Wharton arrived in West London, he was a raw, young talent emerging from Blackburn Rovers. Under Glasner, he quickly matured into an energetic ball winner and a crucial cog to his system that achieved the club’s first major trophy in their history in 2025.
This season, alongside Daichi Kamada, the 22-year-old has continued to evolve his game, whereby now he is closer to profiling as an out-and-out eight rather than the ball-winning six he used to operate as for Palace.
When asked how he’s improved from last season, Richard Amponsah of Eagle-Eyed TV understood how he’s changed. He said: “I think he started to get forward a bit more in his game. Obviously, he’s only got his first goal for us against Brentford towards the latter end of the season.
But he was getting forward, he was having more shots. So, he became more of an all-rounder. And the partnership he obviously built up with Daichi Kamada towards the back end of last season, I think it’s just kind of carried through.”
The answer was simple when it was put to him whether he was better on or off the ball currently.
He said: “Definitely on the ball. With Adam Wharton, unless he’s driving with the ball, you rarely see him taking more than two or three touches, and he paints so many pictures immediately, and he can literally set up attacks from his own half just by playing a line-breaking pass.
I think that’s what is so great about his game, that you can go from defence to attack so quickly with him in your midfield, and granted, he could have had so many more assists as well this season. I think he could have had about 20, 30 if Mateta could finish, especially early on in the season! He’s a phenomenal player.”
In the end, Wharton finished with eight in all competitions, but his excellent on the ball capabilkties are not shown often in the stats, but rather in smaller actions on the pitch.
Whether that’s a line breaking pass to create a chance for Ismalia Sarr or a quick progressive pass to set Tyrique Mitchell or Daniel Munoz, the Yorkshire born lad has expanded this part of his game massively this season. His defensive capabilities are still deeply admirable, but if Liverpool desire a defensive monster in the Fabinho mould, perhaps their eyes should drift elsewhere this summer.
Thumbnail credit: Arne Müseler via Wikimedia Commons
