Aston Villa's Conor Hourihane has broken his silence on a Villa Park departure as his move to Swansea City nears.
BirminghamLive 's colleagues at WalesOnline are reporting that the Republic of Ireland international will undergo a medical at the Liberty Stadium on Wednesday ahead of a loan move.
Villa head coach Dean Smith is set to allow Hourihane out on a temporary basis to get some much-needed game time.
The 29 year-old has made just four Premier League appearances this season and was initially edged out of the Villa starting XI by Ross Barkley once he signed on loan from Chelsea at the end of September.
However, once Barkley got injured on November 21 he still couldn't make the team with Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi in fine form.
Now with Hourihane's exit imminent Villa hero Gabby Agonlahor has sent him a message.
READ: Here's what the Swansea fans are saying
"Love this guy always hungry to play football," he wrote on Instagram. "Good luck at Swansea bro and look forward to seeing you back at Villa next season."
Hourihane replied: "Thanks brother."
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Smith outlined why he was allowing Hourihane out on loan.
“Conor has been to see me a number of times because he wants to be playing football games,” Smith said.
“First and foremost I don’t want Conor to go anywhere on loan but Conor has asked if he can go out and get games.
“So we have said as a football club we will look at it, he will look at it as well if there is a viable option for both the club and Conor we would probably allow him to go out on loan and play games.
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“But it would be reluctant because I like Conor as a person, as a player but I understand his frustrations at not playing.
“He’s never happy when he’s not playing games and he’s intimated to me that he wants to go out and play games.
“It would be a loan to the end of the season to get him back playing and get him back to us.”
