Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton WanderersNews
Conor Hourihane opens up ‘massive’ transfer to Aston Villa in 2017
Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane has opened up on his transfer to the Birmingham club in January 2017.
, the Republic of Ireland international, who is on loan at the Championship side as they prepare for the EFL Play-Offs, spoke about what his first thoughts were when he signed for Villa four years ago, and that he underestimated the size of the club when he joined.
Hourihane was a big part of Villa’s promotion-clinching team in the 2018/19 season with the midfielder making 43 league appearances and featuring in both the semi-finals and the final of the Championship Play-Off, which Dean Smith’s side won against Derby, and the 30-year-old has fond memories of his time with the club.
The Republic of Ireland star said: “It is just a massive club and it was a chance I could not turn down. Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday were in for me, I didn’t want to join Wednesday as I felt that would have been a kick in the teeth to Barnsley, but I felt settled living further north.
Hourihane later added: “It’s a proper club, and I underestimated it when I first joined, but to get them back in the Premier League was great.”
TBR View: Hourihane can prove worth to Villa with Play-Off success with Swansea
Hourihane featured regularly for Villa last season in their first season back in the Premier League in over five years, yet the summer of 2020 brought new additions to the squad which pushed the 30-year-old midfielder out of Smith’s first team and onto the bench, yet success with Swansea could put the Irishman back into a starting XI position for the summer.
Hourihane has shone for the Swans since joining in January, scoring five goals in 13 league appearances and keeping the Welsh club in contention for the play-off spots in the table, and if the Villa star can shine once again in the two most important games of the season, Smith could be impressed enough to recall the midfielder.