Sheffield United: Republic of Ireland international considers his options
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The Republic of Ireland international, who made 31 appearances for Paul Heckingbottom’s side in all competitions last season, is poised to become a free agent after Aston Villa confirmed they would not be renewing his contract.
Although Hourihane had been tipped to join United on a permanent basis, having previously worked under Heckingbottom at Barnsley, he admitted during an interview before their play-off semi-final defeat by Nottingham Forest that starting so many matches on the bench had been “frustrating” at times.
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Hide AdKeen to cement his place in Stephen Kenny’s squad, the 31-year-old is expected to choose his latest move on the basis of potential game time rather than salary. Fourteen of his outings for United, including at the City Ground, came from the bench with Heckingbottom preferring to use John Fleck and Oliver Norwood as his two holding midfielders.
Despite insisting he had “enjoyed” his time at Bramall Lane when addressing journalists earlier this month, Hourihane was non-committal about the future when asked about his likely destination after leaving Villa.
“I’m not going to tell you,” he said. “I’ll sit down and think about it all when the time is right, when the matches have finished.”
Heckingbottom, who has identified “six or seven” issues within his squad which need addressing before the new campaign begins, is known to have discussed United’s plans with Hourihane towards the end of last term.