Irish midfielder Conor Hourihane has joined Aston Villa from Barnsley for a fee believed to be around €3.5 million.
The 25-year-old has been a key part of Barnsley’s squad since joining from Plymouth Argyle in 2014- and was their club Captain.
The Cork-born midfielder played for the Republic of Ireland at Under 21 level.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/ConorHourihane">@ConorHourihane</a> for his fantastic service throughout his time at the Club. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YouReds?src=hash">#YouReds</a> <a href="https://t.co/Aq7wukG7Vy">pic.twitter.com/Aq7wukG7Vy</a></p>— Barnsley FC (@bfc_official) <a href="https://twitter.com/bfc_official/status/824586296064630784">January 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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He is delighted to now be a Villain:
“I’m really pleased to be here”, said Hourihane.
“Aston Villa are a massive club and I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my career and developing further as a player under Steve Bruce.
“I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone connected to Barnsley Football Club; from the owner, to the Head Coach, the backroom staff, and of course to the supporters who have been amazing to me throughout my time at Oakwell.”
Barnsley have released a video in tribute to their former captain:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/AVLMgl1TaDM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
