Aston Villa have received a major boost in their chances of signing Stoke City midfielder Glenn Whelan as Derby County have dropped out of the race, according to the Mirror.
The newspaper claims that Derby manager Gary Rowett was keen on signing the 33-year-old this summer but the club have now ended their interest in the midfielder which has cleared the path for Villa to complete a potential deal.
The report claims that Whelan has his heart set on playing his football at Villa Park next season as he is desperate to join forces with Villa manager Steve Bruce and new arrival John Terry.
The Mirror reports that a deal to take the midfielder to the Championship side is likely to be completed sometime this month as Villa need to offload a number of players in the current squad.
The Midlands club could use someone with Whelan’s top flight experience to help them mount a serious push for promotion in the upcoming Championship campaign.
The Republic international already has experience of achieving automatic promotion from the second tier of English football as he helped Stoke get promoted to the Premier League in the 2007-08 season.
The midfielder has been one of the most consistent performers for Stoke during his nine-year spell at the club, making a total of 276 Premier League appearances.
Whelan’s current contract at the bet365 Stadium runs out next summer.