Ex-Sunderland forward Luke Molyneux prepares for Hartlepool United return - how close did Pools come to keeping him?

Molyneux enjoyed a breakout campaign with Pools during the 2021-22 campaign, scoring 12 times on his way to scooping a hat-trick of awards at the club’s end of year ceremony.

Molyneux’s performances alerted the attention of several clubs in the EFL as the 24-year-old failed to reach terms over a new deal at the Suit Direct Stadium.

But the intention was for Molyneux to remain at the club – at least according to former manager Paul Hartley.

Molyneux had been in discussions to remain at the Suit Direct Stadium for a number of months prior to Hartley’s appointment as manager, Hartley himself also holding talks with the player and his representatives following his unveiling in June.

But, prior to his dismissal as Pools boss, Hartley admitted he was unsure how close the club came to retaining Molyneux’s services, despite their best intentions.

“He’s a good player. He had a good spell at Hartlepool where he made a bit of a name for himself,” Hartley told The Mail.

“He’s a player that we wanted to keep, but for various reasons he chose to move on.

“I’m not quite sure [how close we were to keeping him] to be honest with you,” Hartley added.

“I stayed out of the contract stuff. I just speak about the football stuff.

“I had a good conversation with him and he sounds like a good kid. He's a good player but we’ve not got him now.”

In the end though, Molyneux would land at recently relegated Doncaster, admitting he was ready for a new challenge having spent three years with Pools.

“For me I just wanted to try something different and get away from home,” Molyneux said of his move in the summer.

“I’ve been a home bird for all of my life so I think I just wanted a new challenge.

“Obviously we were looking to go higher up in the leagues but football is football, it doesn’t always work out.

“You just want to be at a team that can get you up to where you want to be.”