As revealed by Dean Smith recently, Conor Hourihane had requested an exit from Aston Villa due to a lack of playing time and duly granted a temporary move elsewhere.
The 29-year-old had a lot of interest from Championship clubs such as Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City, but he opted to join Swansea City for one significant reason. When asked why he chose the Swans, Hourihane told Wales Online:
First and foremost probably the manager (Steve Cooper). Over the last few weeks he’s been telling me bits and pieces about how he sees me fitting into the team and the qualities I’ll bring to the team.
As a human being in general, he was first class. I was impressed by him and spoke to a few people I know about the area and Swansea as well. It seemed like a really good fit and for the first two days I’ve been in it feels like I’ve made the right choice because it’s a great set of lads. I’m really excited to get going and can’t wait to get started.
Cooper admitted being “surprised” that Villa allowed a player of Hourihane’s quality to leave. The Republic of Ireland international was a regular in his first four seasons at the club and only fell down to the in recent months, so Swansea should consider themselves lucky to sign a player of his calibre.
In quotes reported by Birmingham Live, the Swansea manager revealed:
Once we knew that he may be available – we pursued it 110 percent. We were surprised that he may be available, and we really went for it in terms of trying to maximise the chance of him being here and fortunately he has decided this is the next step for him.
A lot of work went into getting the deal done and he’s really bought into our plan and the role he can play within it.
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Swansea are currently second in the Championship with 46 points from 24 games, boasting four wins and a draw from their last five matches (Transfermarkt). They also boast the best defensive record in the division with just 13 goals conceded, so it’s easy to see why the Swans stood out for Hourihane.
He will now hope to nail down a regular starting place at the Liberty Stadium to impress any Villa scouts monitoring his progress. Helping Swansea to win promotion to the Premier League would certainly do that, and having Cooper’s firm backing should also help greatly.
