In an ideal world Mowbray would hand out a new contract to the home-grown centre- half on the back of a return to the Premier League.
With Boro sitting fourth from bottom in the Championship, however, he knows that is looking unlikely.
That is why Boro are looking to move the 23-year-old on during January's transfer window and a few of the clubs interested have already made contact.
Mowbray is hoping firm offers in the region of £2m arrive within the next month, which could lead to Wheater's departure, meaning the manager would then have the cash to reinvest in the squad.
However, with Wheater's advisors well aware he could move on as a free agent when his contract expires in the close season, Mowbray accepts the chances of the player leaving before January 31 remain far from certain.
The biggest factor for David is that any team outside the top eight are still threatened by relegation, said Mowbray. If he signs for any of those, he could find himself back in the Championship.
He might think I could pick a Premier League club in the summer'. That would not help us, of course.
If David is still here on February 1, he will be leaving on a free [in the summer]. I can't put a gun to his head and say sign for whoever in January.
Wheater has strong ties to the club as he was brought up in Redcar and sat in the stands as a supporter at the Riverside during his days as an Academy player.
Only yesterday he revealed his genuine love for the club and a determination to focus on the task at hand for as long as he remains a Middlesbrough player.
He is a passionate supporter.
He is fully aware of the speculation, said Mowbray.
We want to keep our best players, of course, but David's contract has been allowed to run down and there's little time on our side.
If David wants to play in the Premier League next season then we will potentially have to sell. The situation has to play itself out.
Wolves are believed to be one of the clubs that have already been in contact, while there is also interest from a number of others, including Everton and Stoke City.
It is a difficult situation for Mowbray, who knows he has to move on a number of his high earners if he wants to make additions to his Middlesbrough squad in the next four weeks.
Gary O'Neil, Kris Boyd, Seb Hines, Julio Arca and Scott McDonald are four of the players he knows he would have to seriously consider offers for if they arrive.
Nothing will happen if we don't sell players but we do have to get to a level where we are not just losing money,
said Mowbray, who takes his squad to Leeds United tomorrow on the back of Tuesday's win at Preston.
You can't force people to take your players. You can't force them out of the door, otherwise it is expensive. Very rarely do you get a perfect window.
Mowbray and his backroom team have been working on a list of contenders to come in and replace any departures.
He said: We do have names, people we have discussed.
No decision has been made on former defender Andrew Davies.
He has spent the last few weeks training at Rockliffe Park and Mowbray will not rush into a deal until he has seen him train on grass for a number of consecutive days.
Another unwanted distraction for Mowbray is that Aussie striker McDonald will head to Qatar for the Asian Cup after tomorrow's trip to Elland Road.
The former Celtic man has been included in the Australia squad for the tournament, which starts on January 7 and could see the Socceroos qualify for the final on January 29.
Mowbray, who will be left with Boyd, Leroy Lita and Marvin Emnes as his strikers, said: It's not an ideal scenario, but we have known it was coming.
We have been working behind the scenes and we will see what the next few weeks bring. It might be an opportunity for existing squad members to seize the chance or it might be an opportunity to bring somebody else in.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo