Football Whelan poised to become Barton’s 17th summer signing
VETERAN REPUBLIC OF IRELAND MIDFIELDER SET TO JOIN PIRATES AFTER TRIAL PERIOD WITH LEAGUE TWO CLUB
JOEY Barton has confirmed he intends to sign Glenn Whelan, with the Bristol Rovers manager hinting another signing could follow the former Republic of Ireland midfielder to the Memorial Stadium.
Whelan, 37, has been training with Rovers for about a fortnight with a view to earning a contract, and the long-time Stoke City stalwart is set to sign on the dotted line.
Rovers confirmed agreements with Leon Clarke, Junior Brown and Antony Evans soon after Tuesday’s EFL Trophy win against Cheltenham, and Barton later told the Bristol Post a deal for ex-Aston Villa midfielder Whelan will likely follow.
As a free agent, Whelan can sign after Tuesday night’s transfer deadline. He will need to be registered by noon on Friday to be eligible for Saturday’s League Two meeting with Crawley Town.
“We’re trying to work on Whelo, because he’s 198 you have to make sure you do a thorough medical on him, so it’s just the stages of that,” Barton joked in his post-match press conference after beating Cheltenham 2-0.”
The arrival of Whelan would be Rovers’ 17th addition since Barton took charge of the club’s recruitment at the start of the summer.
In conversation with reporters, Barton revealed the Gas could possibly make a further signing after Whelan, though he gave no clues of their identity or their availability and admitted the chances of it coming off were remote.
But the manager is pleased with the business done over the summer, believing he has a squad that can challenge.
“When I look at the business we’ve done over the window, we’ve hopefully got a little more to do before the closing stages, but I’m really pleased,” said Barton.
“I think we’re 16 (signings) confirmed at the moment, maybe get to 17, possibly even 18, and on the other side of that 20-plus have gone out.
“So a huge turnaround, we’re going to need more time. One win tonight is not going to be, that’s us away and running now. We’ve got a lot of hard work in front of us on the training ground.
“I’m really pleased with the recruitment and when I look at the market, there’s only probably one player that I’ve missed out on that in hindsight I should’ve taken.
“But every other target we’ve taken, we just need time to bed them in.
“I’m really looking forward to this team bedding in, getting the crowd back in and getting some positive results and performances.
“I think the boys, with the support and once we start clicking, could really achieve something special this season.”