Swansea City midfielder Conor Hourihane has suggested that he would be open to remaining with the club next season, but that for now his focus is on helping them earn promotion.

Hourihane has been an excellent addition to the squad for Swansea after arriving on loan from Aston Villa in the January transfer window. The midfielder has managed to become a key performer for Steve Cooper’s side and has chipped in with five goals and two assists in his 18 Championship appearances, helping them reach the play-offs for a second successive campaign.

The midfielder is facing an uncertain future in the summer when he heads back to Aston Villa. Hourihane will be wanting to be assured of first-team football next term and that might mean that he needs to make a permanent switch away from Villa Park.

Speaking to BBC Sport on his potential future, Hourihane revealed that he is yet to have talks with Swansea over a potential return to the club. However, he insisted that he has enjoyed his time with the Swans and that he would be open to a potential move back there in the summer.

He said: "I’ll probably go back there in pre-season and see what happens. Honestly, there’s been no talks between Swansea and myself as of yet, we’ll all see what happens after the play-off campaign and have a chat then but the only one goal I’ve got on my mind is to be here and be successful and hopefully play my part in getting the team promoted and go from there.

“I’d love to try and get the team promoted and then sit down and have a chat as Swansea being a Premier League club and let's just see, honestly I’m open to anything and anything could happen. I’ve had a fantastic time here and hopefully like we’ve touched on it can end successfully.”

The verdict

This is excellent potential news for Swansea, with Hourihane surely a player that the club would be wanting to try and re-sign in the summer from Aston Villa given the impact he has made on the squad. It might come down to whether or not they are able to earn promotion through the play-offs or not and if they do then the midfielder should be a priority.

Hourihane will be wanting first-team football guaranteed and he could get that with Swansea next term more so than with Villa. Therefore, you can understand why he would be wanting to return to the club if he does get the chance to do so when the transfer window opens.

Getting a player of Hourihane’s quality into the building on a permanent deal would be excellent business for Swansea, and it shows how well they are being run at the moment under Cooper that players like that are wanting to remain with the club for next term.