A short time ago we brought you the news that Barnsley F.C. supporters had actually started a petition, backed by 600 fans, to make it illegal for the club to sell their talismanic captain who with eleven assists and five goals in just 24 games has been many people's player of the Championship. Indeed, with Barnsley sitting nicely in tenth place the season after winning promotion from League One, one can understand why Tykes fans are anxious that the applecart not be upset.
But said cart looks set to be put on its side relatively shortly. After capturing Nottingham Forest captain Henri Lansbury for £3 million (according to Sky sources), Aston Villa are looking for a midfielder to play alongside Lansbury and have set their sights firmly on Hourihane, according to the Birmingham Mail.
The Mail are reporting that the Corkman is "keen to seal a move", with SkyBet odds slashed to 1/4 that he will be at Villa Park before the transfer window slams shut on 31st January. And, according to the publication, even if Hourihane does not move to Villa in the next two weeks he will "join Villa on a free transfer" in the summer.
Villa are actually below Barnsley in the table (in 13th) but have improved since Steve Bruce took over as manager, only losing three out of fifteen games since he joined on 12th October. And with Hourihane and Lansbury in the engine room, it surely wouldn't be long before they returned to the top flight.
