Karan Vinod
BBC Sport Journalist

Crystal Palace midfield maestro Adam Wharton has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, according to reports, external.

The Englishman has missed a whole host of games this season for Palace due to groin and ankle issues but remains pivotal in the way Oliver Glasner wants his team to play.

The 21-year-old was bought for almost £22 million from Blackburn Rovers and a move to the Spanish capital is reportedly on the cards this summer.

However, Madrid's midfield is already stacked with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos, and Luka Modric to name a few. Suffice to say midfield isn't exactly top of Madrid's concerns at the moment as they only have one fit central defender.

With that said, will Wharton turn down the chance to play for the Los Blancos should they come calling? Time will tell.

Karan Vinod
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

It is easy to forget that Adam Wharton is still only 21. The Palace midfielder signed with the London club in January last year and has quickly risen to fame with his exceptional performance. So much so that he earned his first England call up within four months of his Premier League debut.

These advanced numbers must be caveated with the fact that Wharton isn't a creator-in-chief for Palace. His job for Glasner's side is to dictate and recycle possession whilst deployed in a deep-lying midfielder role. His ability with his right-foot, when considering his dominant foot is left, is a great trait to have for a player in his position.

With that said, let's dive deep into some per 90 numbers behind Wharton's 2024-25 season:

• Passes attempted - 46.1
• Passing accuracy - 78.65%
• Long-passes attempted - 4.8
• Long pass accuracy - 57.14%
• Passes completed (Opp. Half) - 22.2
• Forward passes - 17.5

Note - These stats are derived from Squawka.

Image source, Getty Images

Ismaila Sarr has been an astute signing for Crystal Palace, who signed for the club in August for a reported £12m plus bonuses.

One of his best performances for the club came in the FA Cup semi-final where he scored two to help sink Aston Villa.

Eberechi Eze sang his teammate's praises post-match, saying: “I’ll be giving this to him inside [player of the match award]. He’s a top player and he’s helped us so much this season."

The Senegalese forward has made 18 goals contributions across all competitions this season - 11 goals and seven assists.

Sarr wants to replicate his performance from the semi-final this Saturday and told Palace TV: “Everybody in the team, the manager… everybody needs to win this final. I'm working hard every day. I know it's not easy, but in my mind, we’re going to win this final.

“Yeah, Palace have never won this Cup, but maybe this is the first time. It's the moment, the win. The team is working for the win in this final, for one trophy for the Palace.”

Cheers both.

If Palace are to cause a shock, these next two players might be the key performers...

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport

I'll settle for just quality chat then, thanks Ali.

To be fair it's you guys who always bring the conversation. I'm just a messenger.

Mikel Arteta's news conference is coming up soon. But for now we'll stay on FA Cup build-up.

Alastair Telfer
BBC Sport

I am passing you back into the capable hands of Joe.

Loads of Premier League news conferences to come, and before that some top quality chat from Mr Rindl.

Well, maybe not 'top' quality....

Crystal Palace

After netting against Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur, Eberechi Eze scored in three consecutive league matches for the first time in his career.

Want more Crystal Palace news? Have a read of our club page here.

Troy Deeney
Former Watford striker in Troy's Team of the Week

Eze is just a joke, isn't he? Loads of people in Fantasy Football, like myself, will be really happy with his two goals.

I think at the start of the year he would've felt he'd get the move like Michael Olise. He didn't get that move and got his head wrapped around it. Now he's just developing into this special, special talent.

He's taking games over, getting confidence. Also, looking towards the end of this season, there's an opportunity to break into this England team on a consistent basis. I would have Eze in my team over Phil Foden every day of the week.

Karan Vinod
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Eberechi Eze has consistently been one of Crystal Palace's best performers.

The attacking midfielder is the 10 in Oliver Glasner's system but sometimes drifts out wide to the left.

On the surface, Eze has seven goals and eight assists in the Premier League this season. But let's dive a bit deeper:

• Shot accuracy (excluding blocks) - 46.67%
• Passes completed (opponents half) - 15.4
• Forward passes - 8.2
• Take-ons completed - 2.3
• Fouls won - 1.9
• Ground duels won - 5.5

Note - These numbers are from Squawka.

Alastair Telfer
BBC Sport at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

"Sometimes" this job really is the best in the world. Why not always, Joe? Especially when you are working with me.

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport

Sometimes this job really is the best in the world. I've had the pleasure of being able to watch Eberechi Eze compilations for the past 30 minutes for "research purposes".

I can now confidently say, he's really, really good. You agree?

Thirteen goals for club and country this season, but crucially eight of those have come from the past 11 games.

The Englishman has five goals from his past four which includes the opener in the FA Cup semi-finals and two against Tottenham last time out.

Eze, who joined Palace from QPR in 2020, is still hunting his first major trophy.

If Palace are to win tomorrow, he'll be playing a key part.

Image source, Getty Images

Crystal Palace

Should Oliver Glasner's side beat Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday and lift the FA Cup for the first time, then they would also secure a landmark route into Europe.

The winners of the FA Cup will gain entry into the Europa League - something the Eagles have never done before.

Crystal Palace did successfully apply to play in Uefa's now defunct Intertoto Cup in the 1998-99 season, but the club has never qualified for any one of the current three European competitions - Champions League, Europa League or Conference League - either by their league position or winning a trophy.

Image source, Getty Images

Right, back to FA Cup final chat.

Leicester City

That's all from Ruud van Nilsterooy.

Hit the thumbs if you think Jamie Vardy scores on Sunday.

Surely it is written in the stars?

Leicester City

Leicester City manager Ruud van Nilsterooy added on how Jamie Vardy has been preparing for his final home game: "Nothing different. He's preparing to win the game on Sunday, that's what he does.

"He's been so good over so many years because of that mindset, he's not been bothered with criticism or praise, he's thinking of performing. There's nothing different about how he is around the place."