---
title: "West Brom: Joseph Masi plays down Conor Hourihane rumour"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/west-brom-joseph-masi-plays-down-conor-hourihane-rumour/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Henry Jackson"
section: "Championship News"
published: "2021-07-19T11:10:21Z"
modified: "2021-07-19T11:10:21Z"
---

# West Brom: Joseph Masi plays down Conor Hourihane rumour

**West Brom are not interested in signing Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane this summer, according to Joseph Masi.**

### The Lowdown: West Brom keen on Hourihane move

Valerien Ismael will be looking to make new signings ahead of his first season at The Hawthorns, as the Baggies look to return to the Premier League.

One player who has been [linked](https://theathletic.com/2710830/2021/07/18/how-the-championship-is-feeling-the-financial-fall-out-of-covid-19/) with a summer move to West Brom is Hourihane, who found game-time hard to come by at Villa last season. The [26-cap](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/conor-hourihane/profil/spieler/61653) Republic of Ireland international [only appeared four times](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/134172/Show/Conor-Hourihane) in the top flight and was loaned out to Swansea City in January.

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### The Latest: Journalist plays down rumour

Despite the Baggies’ [apparent interest](https://theathletic.com/2710830/2021/07/18/how-the-championship-is-feeling-the-financial-fall-out-of-covid-19/) in the [£42,000-a-week](https://salarysport.com/football/player/conor-hourihane/) midfielder, [Express & Star](https://www.expressandstar.com/) journalist Masi played down the rumour on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JosephMasi_Star/status/1416773168098914309?s=20) on Sunday.

Responding to a question from a West Brom fan, he stated: “From what I am hearing Albion aren’t interested in him.”

\[freshpress-quiz id=”343772″\]

### The Verdict: Strong squad option

Hourihane could be an ideal signing for West Brom, so it is disappointing to hear that their interest seemingly isn’t genuine.

At 30, he may not represent a long-term addition, but he has international experience and has played [31 times](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/conor-hourihane/alletore/spieler/61653) in the Premier League. He also showed some good form in the latter half of last season, scoring [five times](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/134172/Show/Conor-Hourihane) during his loan spell at Swansea as they made it to the play-off final.

Ismael could benefit from having more seasoned individuals in his squad who know how to earn promotion from the Championship, as Hourihane [did with Villa](https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2019/07/12/conor-hourihane-signs-new-contract) back in 2018/19.

***In other news, West Brom have suffered a potential blow in their quest to sign one player this summer. Find out who it is [here](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/west-brom-transfer-rumours/west-brom-baggies-suffer-potential-okay-yokuslu-blow/).***