Aston Villa have bid for Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan rejected

Aston Villa had a £500,000 bid for the services of Glenn Whelan rejected by Stoke City Football Club . The Potters want far more for a midfielder who has spent the past decade at the Brittania.

Steve Bruce thought he had his understudy to Mile Jedinak. Glenn Whelan, 33, has one year remaining on his Stoke contract after spending the past ten seasons with The Potters.

Stoke recently signed/will be signing Darren Fletcher from West Bromwich Albion – adding to their central midfield crop. Whelan is a Republic of Ireland international entering a World Cup year. Ireland still stands on pretty good grounds of qualifying. Whelan wants to be with that qualifying team moving forward. Therefore, a move away from the Premier League could be on the table.

Next: Aston Villa linked to a pair of tough midfielders

But it’s not to be…for now.

Understandably so, a £500,000 bid was rejected. From Stoke’s perspective, that sum is far too low for a player with 290+ Premier League appearances and 80 international caps.

The problem with Aston Villa upping the bid is two-fold. Firstly, Whelan is 33 and won’t be signing for the club for more than one year + an option. Secondly, Whelan is expected to compete with Mile Jedinak as the club’s starting defensive midfielder, not with him every match. The pair could definitely start together with Whelan in a box-to-box role, but not week-in, week-out.

Aston Villa supporters won’t be too excited by a potential Whelan signing, but he ups midfield in a crucial position of need. Moreover, he’s vastly experienced and a tremendous locker room presence.

Using cost benefit analysis, Aston Villa can’t do much better than Glenn Whelan for under £1 million.