The experienced midfielder turned down a big money offer from Wrexham this summer, as the Welsh side look to continue their progress up the EFL.
The veteran midfielder was reportedly offered a hefty contract to join the ambitious Welsh club this summer, but the arrangement did not include the 33-year-old taking on a player-coaching role at the Racecourse Ground, which he desired.
Instead, Hourihane signed with fellow League One opponents Barnsley, where he will face Phil Parkinson’s side next season.
Should this affect those in Wrexham? Are we seeing a decline in the club’s ability to entice players with lucrative contracts as they go through the leagues? Football League World examines…
Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer feels that Hourihane’s decision to turn off Wrexham in favour of a move to Barnsley should not be seen as Wrexham having greater player recruiting challenges in the future.
Palmer stated, “I don’t think you can read too much into Conor Hourihane signing for Barnsley on a free transfer.”
“A lot of people are reading into the fact that Wrexham gave him a very lucrative contract, he was available for free after leaving Derby County, and he turned them down, but I don’t see this as an issue.
Conor’s circumstance is that he was offered a player-coach position, is 33 years old, and has Barnsley links. So I believe all of these factors influenced his decision not to go to Wrexham.
“Wrexham are on the up and up, and they are doing extremely well, with back-to-back promotions. They will face competition from other clubs now that they have advanced to League One; when they were down there, the Wrexham owners were throwing money at the work and paying people well.
I believe they will continue to be a very good project for some players, but in League One, competing with other major teams who can afford such amounts, Wrexham will find it more difficult to make deals.
“But in this case, I wouldn’t be too concerned about Wrexham missing out on his signature, despite the large offer believed to have been made by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
“I don’t think you can read too much into that. The fact that he was offered a player-coach position is more likely due to his signing with Barnsley and his relationship to the football club.”
Fearing other clubs is simply not what Reynolds and McElhenney want Wrexham AFC to do; rather, they want other clubs to fear them, as has been the case since they came in North Wales.
Going up the divisions will not terrify the Hollywood alliance; rather, it will fuel their desire as they delve deeper into their almost limitless resources.
As Palmer mentioned, the Hourihane deal was unlikely to go through because the Irish international refused to sign an agreement that would have required him to take on a hybrid player-coaching job, despite Barnsley’s ability to offer him a more substantial cash package.
The allure of Wrexham isn’t just there because players understand they’ll be in line for sizeable payday, players want to sign for them because of the aforementioned ambition and execution of those ambitions by the football club (and the media attention they’ll receive of course helps too).
Will the owners face increased competition for player signings? Yes. Will they compete against clubs with greater financial and scouting resources? Yes.
However, this is standard practice for every football club promoted from any tier, not just Wrexham. The difference is that they can provide a sales presentation that few other clubs can; sitting across from Reynolds and McElhenney and turning them down would undoubtedly be a problem for anyone.
The reality is that Wrexham will most certainly have one of the greater budgets in League One next season, therefore how they spend it should be more important than how much they have.
