Glenn Whelan signs new deal with Fleetwood

Glenn Whelan has signed a new contract with Fleetwood Town.

The deal will keep the veteran Republic of Ireland midfielder with the Fishermen until the summer of 2021.

Whelan joined the Lancashire club in January on a short term deal following an acrimonious spell at Hearts in Scotland. 

However Fleetwood manager Joey Barton has heaped praise on Whelan, remarking that his performance since joining the club has been ‘superb’.

“He’s a player who has high standards on and off the pitch and you can’t have enough of those players around the club,” Barton told fleetwoodtownfc.com.

“I think people saw how important he was in us reaching the play-offs last season,” the former Newcastle and QPR midfielder added.

Whelan has made 91 senior appearances for the Republic of Ireland, scoring two goals, including a memorable strike in 2009 against Italy in Croke Park.

 He spent the bulk of his career at Stoke City and Sheffield Wednesday.

“At the moment he's on 91 caps for the Republic of Ireland and I know how passionate he is to get to 100, hopefully, we can help him reach what would be an incredible achievement”, remarked Barton.

The Fishermen narrowly qualified for the League One playoffs this year based on the points-per-game calculation but were eliminated at the semi-final stage by eventual winners Wycombe Wanderers.

 Whelan had been an instrumental player as the side recorded an 11-match unbeaten streak before EFL Football was halted in March.