Fulham seek Whelan deal

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham seek Whelan deal
Stoke set to offload Irish midfielder

FULHAM are poised to sign Ireland man Glenn Whelan if Stoke City decide to offload the Dubliner.

Whelan endured some tough times at the Potters last season, especially in the first half of the campaign and didn't start a single league game between September and January.

When the transfer window opened in January, Whelan held talks with Stoke manager Tony Pulis about a move away as he was concerned about losing his place in the Ireland side due to the lack of first team football with the Britannia Stadium-based side.

But he forced his way back into the team and finished the season strongly, playing for Stoke in their FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City and helping the club qualify for the Europa League.

Yet Pulis is now considering the sale of Whelan and that has caused rival clubs to step up their interest.

West Ham United have already made an inquiry about the 27-year-old but Whelan, who helped Stoke win promotion to the Premier League three years ago, is not keen to drop down to the Championship.

Fan

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is also a big fan of Whelan, but McCarthy's main transfer target this summer is the permanent signing of on-loan midfielder Jamie O'Hara -- and if O'Hara signs from Spurs, McCarthy would not be able to offer Whelan the guarantee of first-team football.

So that could see Fulham make a formal bid for the player.

New manager Martin Jol -- who has also been linked with Irish captain Robbie Keane -- is an admirer of Whelan and Fulham know that they could land him for a fee of less than £1m.

Meanwhile, SPL side Inverness Caledonian Thistle fear they will lose star striker Adam Rooney to an English club this week.

Rooney, third-top scorer in the SPL last season, is out of contract with Caley and though he has not yet said that he wants to move, he has been in talks with several Championship sides.

Rooney saw the impact that fellow Dubliner Conor Sammon made in the English Premier League following his mid-season switch from Kilmarnock last season and he may do the same.

- Aidan Fitzmaurice



http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/fulham-seek-whelan-deal-2673235.html?

[Lighthouse]

Why?

[AlFayedsChequebook]

Why?

New manager Martin Jol -- who has also been linked with Irish captain Robbie Keane -- is an admirer of Whelan and Fulham know that they could land him for a fee of less than £1m.

Squad depth for Europa.

I would prefer David Vaughan personally - he is free.

[Irelands_number1]

Oh dear God no. hes terrible!
Our national teams main problem is that we have no centre midfield! its either whelan gibson or andrews. all 3 are absolutely buck useless!
STAY AWAY

[Mr Fulham]

I would prefer David Vaughan personally - he is free.

Wages....because there are literally 7 or 8 teams interested, including Sunderland, Everton and newcastle.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I would prefer David Vaughan personally - he is free.

Wages....because there are literally 7 or 8 teams interested, including Sunderland, Everton and newcastle.

Yes, but with no fee, he cannot be after that much.

He would be perfect cover for Murphy.

[Lighthouse]

We need to look up. According to Jol we need 2 or 3 players to fight for first team places. I see people like Whelan as little improvement on KD. Fact is we don't need to have players as backup in case they are needed for the early rounds of the Europa, We need improvement.

The Europa seems to have lowered our sights to have players who are fill ins.

[Mr Fulham]

We need to look up. According to Jol we need 2 or 3 players to fight for first team places. I see people like Whelan as little improvement on KD. Fact is we don't need to have players as backup in case they are needed for the early rounds of the Europa, We need improvement.

The Europa seems to have lowered our sights to have players who are fill ins.

He'll be a backup and he's homegrown after all. With Greening being 32/33 and Whelan only 27, the move is ok. Solid player with experience - and he played 29 matches last season. He's cheap and knows some players. And it's only about backups...it's impossible to have a squad with 25-30 top stars.
And everyone said "Sidwell is crap" when we signed our special one Prince. So let's wait and see what happens.

[Mr Fulham]

I would prefer David Vaughan personally - he is free.

Wages....because there are literally 7 or 8 teams interested, including Sunderland, Everton and newcastle.

Yes, but with no fee, he cannot be after that much.

He would be perfect cover for Murphy.

There's intense competition and he'll go for the offer that gives him the best contract. And we're not able to compete with Mr Ellis Short or Ashley.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I would prefer David Vaughan personally - he is free.

Wages....because there are literally 7 or 8 teams interested, including Sunderland, Everton and newcastle.

Yes, but with no fee, he cannot be after that much.

He would be perfect cover for Murphy.

There's intense competition and he'll go for the offer that gives him the best contract. And we're not able to compete with Mr Ellis Short or Ashley.

And hopefully we wont. I like Vaughan but there is no point offering silly wages and a long contract to a player who we would use only as a backup.

[Burt]

Seems like reasonable back-up for an enlarged squad for a reasonable fee.

[SWwhite]

I've seen some good things from him but i usually don't realise he's playing, which isn't too good for a centre-mid.
However, worth a punt