Cardiff City: Whittingham signs new three-year deal

Midfielder Peter Whittingham has signed a new three-year deal to stay at Cardiff City.

The 27-year-old has finally put pen to paper on a new contract to end speculation of a move to the Premier League.

Cardiff manager Malky Mackay has made Whittingham the cornerstone of his side's bid for promotion.

"We're absolutely delighted that Peter has committed himself to the club for the longer term," said MacKay.

Whittingham, who had two years left on his previous contract, played every minute of Cardiff's 46 Championship matches last season.

He had been linked with a move to Fulham and West Brom in the Premier League.

"We're absolutely delighted that Peter has committed himself to the club for the longer term following a couple of top flight clubs coming in for him," added Mackay.

"I had a good conversation with him and he's decided to commit his future with us right here, so on behalf of my staff and the club we are happy to have backed that commitment by improving the terms of his contract.

"He's still a relative youngster who is great to work with, and I've very much enjoyed having him here as one of my players over the last year, during which time he's improved again.

"Going forward he's someone who I won't stop pushing because I see so much talent there.

"All of us here work hard with him in training every day, but he also puts a lot in himself. Underneath his calm demeanour there's a real determination to play at the top level, and we're happy that he's committed that desire to trying to achieve his goals with Cardiff City.

"We all want to push on and have every hope to do that together."

Whittingham has played more than 250 games for Cardiff since joining in 2007, scoring more than 60 goals.

"Despite strong Premier League interest he sees what we are trying to build here and he wants to be a part of that, though that doesn't take anything away from the level of his ambition," said Mackay.

"It's my belief that there's a lot more to come from Peter Whittingham and I'm certainly going to try and help him achieve his goals."