Glenn Whelan cannot wait to get ‘stuck in’ at Hearts and declared: ‘I’m not here on a jolly up’.
The Republic of Ireland midfielder, 35, has this afternoon signed a one-year deal with the Scottish Premiership side.
Whelan, who was a free agent following his departure from Aston Villa at the end of last season, said: “I’m delighted and I want to get the head down and get stuck into things.
“I’ve managed to train for the last couple of days with the lads, got the meet-and-greet out of the way. But I’m delighted to get everything sorted out now.
“Everywhere I’ve gone throughout my career I’ve always achieved what I’ve wanted to do so I’m not up here for a jolly up or a holiday.”
The Jambos were eager to bolster their midfield options following injury to Peter Haring and Whelan’s arrival is a follow-up to Loic Damour’s move from Cardiff.
Former Stoke City man Whelan continued: “Once I knew Hearts were involved then It was something that I really had to think about.
“The manager (Craig Levein) has been great, he’s given me a lot of time to think about things but for the last week or so I’ve been ready to go.
“The manager was crucial to getting me up here. He’s shown a lot of ambition in where he wants the club to go.
“I came up and trained with the lads for a couple of days last week and I was really impressed. I’m up here now and I’m ready to dig in and get some results.”
Whelan would love to win a trophy in Scotland and said: “The manager has spoken about trying to get into Europe and pushing on as high as we can.
“I’m not just up here to enjoy myself, I’m here to achieve something. I’m looking to do that with Hearts, a massive club in Scotland.
“I’m up here to improve players if I can, and to win games.”
Hearts visit Celtic in the league on Sunday week.
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