Conor Hourihane has enjoyed a dream start to life at Swansea City.
The midfielder has made five appearances for the Swans since joining on loan from Aston Villa in the January transfer window and has netted in each of his three league outings for the club so far.
Hourihane has already spoken candidly about his desire to play regular football having been deemed surplus to requirements at Villa Park in the opening half of the 2020/21 campaign.
But in securing a move away from the Midlands, the Republic of Ireland international had to make a huge sacrifice by leaving his family behind in the Midlands.
"I've got two daughters, a partner. My second daughter is only about eight weeks old," he told the Irish Examiner.
"[Birmingham] It's about two-and-a-half hours away, Swansea, but for me to get into the best place possible come the summer, I knew I had to get out.
"It's not easy. The newborn makes it a little bit tougher. The club have been absolutely fantastic in fairness. Whatever I need, they've been brilliant. Really impressive."
Hourihane has already shown his worth in his short Swansea career to date.
And it's quickly become evident that the capture of the 30-year-old represents something of a major coup for the club.
When asked about interest from other clubs, Hourihane commented: "Yeah, there was a few. Bournemouth were in there and one or two others. But probably the position in the league that they [Swansea] were in, really up there pushing for promotion [played a part in choosing Swansea].
"I spoke to the manager three or four times and it would had to have taken a good move and a bit of convincing, because, like I said, two daughters, a newborn in the house, but speaking to him made my decision very easy.
"He was fantastic over the phone and he's been fantastic since I've arrived face to face, so I've definitely made the right choice."
Having featured as a late substitute in Swansea's 3-1 FA Cup fifth round loss to Man City, Hourihane will not switch his focus back to his new side's promotion push.
The Swans are currently third in the Championship ahead of their clash with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough this weekend.
And while he admits he's not willing to look beyond the current campaign when it comes to assessing his future at Aston Villa, Hourihane has stated his move to Swansea was the right thing to do for his career.
"I'm not sure, time will tell I suppose," he said, when pressed on his future.
"I'm not really thinking too far ahead. I know at the minute, this is definitely the right thing for me, first and foremost, playing and playing well, and let's see what happens over the coming months.
"Villa is a fantastic club, I've been there for four years now. It's such a fantastic club, a great setup, huge football club.
"But they are moving on as well and going to a level that, the club may feel like is past my level. That's their opinion so we'll just see what happens come the summer."
