The 27-year-old is expected to leave the Scottish giants and reports have been closely linked with a move to Gordon Strachan’s Middlesbrough.
“We knew the lad was keen to work again with Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough but we wanted him to come here and made him a very good offer,” Whelan told the Scottish Daily Mail.
“You always think a player will fancy a crack at the English Premier League rather than the Coca-Cola Championship.”
