Barnsley ace Conor Hourihane comments on future

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The midfielder showed exactly why Rangers and Aston Villa are after him with a wondergoal at the weekend.

Conor Hourihane is a man of plentiful talents but if one action summed up his qualities, it occurred in the 88^th minute at the City Ground on Monday afternoon.

Steadying himself 25 yards from goal, all the Republic of Ireland midfielder needed was the briefest of glances before thundering a looping volley into the top corner of the Nottingham Forest net. 1-0 Barnsley.

It was the fifth goal of an astounding league campaign from a player who would surely challenge Jonjo Shelvey, Dwight Gayle, Anthony Knockaert and co for the Championship’s Player of the Year gong. That’s if he’s still wearing Barnsley red come May, that is.

According to The Sun, play-off hopefuls Aston Villa are one of just a number of clubs desperate to add the South Yorkshire Pirlo to their ranks in January, with Rangers and Celtic also linked with a player who is out of contract in the summer.

And, after the game, Hourihane was unsurprisingly unwilling to give too much away about his future despite hinting that it is not too outlandish to suggest that he could stay at Oakwell beyond the month.

“[Could I stay at Barnsley?] Why not? I am a Barnsley player as it is. I have got a contract until the end of the season and I will see where it takes us,” Hourihane said in quotes reported by the Daily Record.

“I am concentrating on my football at the moment and will let what I do on the pitch do my talking.”

The former Sunderland youngster, who’s former club would surely love him in their midfield right now, is the driving force behind Barnsley’s surprise run to eighth in the table and the verge of the play-offs, four places ahead of reported suitors Aston Villa.

And his comments are unlikely to stop Steve Bruce, or Rangers and Celtic for that matter, from testing the waters with a cut-price bid for a player who, according to the Daily Mail, has shelved any talk over a potential new deal for the time being.