Gus Mafuta leaves Hartlepool United to join National League rivals Boreham Wood

The 25-year-old midfielder has left to join Pools’ National League rivals Boreham Wood.

Mafuta had a year remaining on his contract at Victoria Park but has opted to move to a Wood side who secured a play-off place during the 2019-20 campaign. Luke Garrard’s team lost 1-0 to eventual winners Harrogate Town in the play-off semi-final.

After winning promotion with Salford City in 2019, Mafuta joined Pools and went on to make 37 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring four goals.

Now he becomes Hartlepool’s 16th departure of the summer so far, following on from the likes of Aidan Keena, Luke James and Mark Kitching in what has been a significant off-season shake up at the club.

After starting all 16 National League matches under Craig Hignett during the start of the National League season, Mafuta fell somewhat out of favour following Dave Challinor’s arrival as manager.

The England C international played 1439 out of a possible 1440 minutes in the National League under Hignett while was only on the field for 777 of Challinor’s 1710 minutes as Pools boss in the fifth tier.

The form of Nicky Featherstone, Mark Shelton and Gavan Holohan made it difficult for Mafuta to re-establish himself in the side but that didn’t stop him leaving a mark.

A brace in a 5-1 win at Chesterfield and a fine headed equaliser in a draw at Yeovil Town proved to be standout moments for the new Boreham Wood arrival.

The 1-1 draw at Yeovil in January proved to be Mafuta’s final start for Pools as he was limited to just four more substitute appearances before the season was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite Mafuta’s exit, Pools still have 15 players contracted for the upcoming campaign following the signings of David Ferguson and Mason Bloomfield last week.

And with Featherstone, Shelton and Holohan tied down, Pools are in no real rush to find a midfield replacement.

No signings are imminent but several trialists have been in training and the club are expected to turn to the loan market to bolster the squad.

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