Forget Adam Wharton: Liverpool can sign monstrous alternative for half price

Could Kees Smit be an alternative to Liverpool-linked Adam Wharton?

Liverpool transfer target Kees Smit controls the ball with his right foot during AZ Alkmaar game. — (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Okay, so a bit of a complicated one here. Smit technically can operate as a holding midfielder and an attacking midfielder but has historically played firmly central midfield.

Similarly to Adam Wharton, the Eredivisie star has impressed with his ability to progress the ball with his varied passing range and create chances.

Kees Smit’s stats (per 90)	Percentiles
0.35 xA	79th
40.17 successful passes	92nd
83.1% successful pass percentage	60th
1.81 accurate long balls	90th
50% accurate long ball percentage	18th
3.02 chances created	82nd
0.6 big chances created	71st

* Kees Smit’s stats in the 2026/27 Eredivisie season, as of 18/09/26, (via Fotmob)

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Judging by pass accuracy, it certainly appears that Smit is attempting riskier passes (in a bid to create chances) with relative frequency – and he’s reasonably good at it too, taking into account his average chance creation numbers. So, we can see why Liverpool have reportedly been tracking the player.

But does he sit deep enough, regularly enough, to provide a foil for Liverpool’s more naturally marauding midfielders (Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai)?

Wharton and Smit cover a lot of ground

Adam Wharton looks on during Crystal Palace game. — (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

A quick glance at the pair’s heatmaps tells you quite a bit about the footballers.

Kees Smit and Adam Wharton's heatmaps from the 2025/26 Eredivisie and Premier League seasons. — (Heatmaps courtesy of Fotmob)

Wharton looks pretty evenly balanced between sitting inside his own half (even dropping back into the heart of his own box). Smit, by comparison, looks to spend comparatively more time in the opposition half but not to the same extent as Szoboszlai or Gravenberch.

Of the pair, however, the AZ Almaar star is far more inclined to carry the ball himself compared to his Crystal Palace counterpart.

Both have shown some aptitude for the defensive side of the game, but shouldn’t be considered leaders in Europe in that regard.

Adam Wharton’s stats (per 90)	Kees Smit’s stats (per 90)
5.8 recoveries	5.56 recoveries
0.6 possession won in final third	0.8 possession won in final third

* Adam Wharton and Kees Smit’s stats from the 2025/26 Premier League and Eredivisie seasons (Fotmob)

There are some interesting raw materials here with Smit, and you can see how he could be developed into a deeper-lying playmaker, with range to progress the ball through dribbling, if paired alongside a tactically astute midfielder in the pivot who knows when to stay put.

From our point of view, at 20 years of age, you’d have to think he’s still quite mouldable for a manager like Andoni Iraola, certainly enough so that we could look to curb his bad habits.

And at roughly half the price of the reportedly £100m-valued Adam Wharton (talkSPORT).