Wrexham were busy in the transfer market last summer but one player turned down a big offer to join Phil Parkinson’s side.
Wrexham clinched promotion in April of last year and had to make big changes to Phil Parkinson’s squad.
Painful decisions had to be made with popular players leaving the club as Ben Tozer joined Forest Green Rovers.
Rob McElhenney’s favourite player Luke Young left Wrexham at the end of his contract too with the midfielder joining Cheltenham Town.
Wrexham made eight summer signings to bolster Parkinson’s options before then signing four free agents outside of the transfer window.
That summer business has helped Wrexham move into the League One promotion mix but one player slipped through Parkinson’s net.
Conor Hourihane takes interesting step after Wrexham snub
Wrexham did sign players for the future in Arthur Okonkwo, Lewis Brunt, Sebastian Revan and Modou Faal.
Parkinson still loves signing players with experience though, as seen with the January deal for Jay Rodriguez.
Much of Wrexham’s rise has been off the back of instant-impact players and Parkinson wanted another last summer.
Reports suggested that Wrexham made a ‘big offer’ to sign midfielder Conor Hourihane after his Derby County departure.
The Irishman decided to snub Wrexham’s proposal though and decided to re-join former club Barnsley as a player-coach.
Hourihane has only made two League One appearances this season though – and both came way back in August.
The former Aston Villa ace appears to have almost entirely turned to coaching and now finds himself leading Barnsley.
Tykes boss Darrell Clarke was sacked on Wednesday and Hourihane has stepped up as interim manager until the end of the season.
Hourihane took charge against Mansfield Town on Saturday afternoon but suffered a 2-1 defeat in his first game in charge.
Whether Hourihane is in contention for the job on a full-time basis remains to be seen, but it looks like his playing days are coming to an end.
Conor Hourihane snub worked out for Wrexham
Wrexham’s offer for Hourihane surely would have been with a focus on playing rather than coaching.
Parkinson has a settled assistant in Steve Parkin whilst David Jones stepped up to the coaching staff when his playing days ended.
Adding Hourihane into that mix would have been a surprise but his lack of match action this season suggests that Wrexham haven’t missed out.
It’s important to note that Wrexham did make a midfield addition after missing out on Hourihane too – Ollie Rathbone.
Rathbone has arguably been Wrexham’s most consistent performer this season and the best signing Parkinson made last summer.
Wrexham may well have made a big offer for Hourihane, but Parkinson may well end up feeling pleased that the deal didn’t happen.