Aston Villa landed Conor Hourihane from Barnsley in January despite interest from Rangers.
Rangers’ chances of landing Conor Hourihane on the cheap have long since passed them by. The Scottish Sun reported in December that the Ibrox giants were hoping to pull off an almighty coup by bringing in the Barnsley playmaker, arguably the standout player in the first half of last season’s Championship.
Hourihane would normally be well out of The Gers’ price-range. But, with his contract at Barnsley expiring in the summer, the set-piece specialist was available on a cut price deal and that gave the Ibrox giants hope that they could beat Old Firm rivals Celtic and Aston Villa to his signature.
Eventually, however, Villa got their man for just £3 million, per The Mirror. And, after a slow start to life at Villa Park, the Republic of Ireland international is starting to live up to expectations with five goals in nine starts from midfield this season.
As such, Villa manager Steve Bruce is confident that Hourihane will cost far more these days.
“Nobody will leave unless it’s ridiculous sums of money,” Bruce told the Birmingham Mail when discussing speculation that Brighton and Hove Albion were interested.
Therefore, it seems Rangers have missed their one and only chance to add the talented Hourihane to their squad. Gers manager Pedro Caixinha has signed impressively over the summer, the likes of Alfredo Morelos, Graham Dorrans and Daniel Candeias looking like astute additions already.
Hourihane could have been Rangers’ ace in the pack, however, a genuinely quality performer at the peak of his powers. If only they had managed to convince him to swap Oakwell for Ibrox in January.
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