---
title: "January signing came cose to joining Nottingham Forest"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2017/03/14/january-signing-came-cose-joining-nottingham-forest/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Ryan Darby"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2017-03-14T11:48:43Z"
modified: "2017-03-14T11:48:43Z"
---

# January signing came cose to joining Nottingham Forest

Aston Villa’s January signing Conor Hourihane came close to joining Nottingham Forest during the transfer window, according to a report from the [Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/13/olympiakos-owner-evangelos-marinakis-nottingham-forest-takeover-talks).

Hourihane, who joined the club from Barnsley was a target for a host of clubs in the Championship after a brilliant start to the season.

Owner and chairman of Nottingham Forest Fawaz al-Hasawi is trying to sell the club and had previously come close to agreeing on a deal with American businessmen John Moores and Charles Noell before a deal fell through.

Between the two, they had a plan in place to bring in now Derby County manager Gary Rowett to take over at the club.

The party had hoped to get a deal for Hourihane over the line in time to be their first signing at the club.

The former Plymouth Argyle midfielder would go on to join Villa on a three-and-a-half year deal towards the end of the January window. Moores and Noel had also lined up former Tottenham head of recruitment Paul Mitchell.