Hartlepool United manager insists deal for Cameron John has "nothing to do with" Joe Grey's departure
Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson has said that new signing Cameron John "ticks a lot of boxes".
The new Pools boss, who has overseen three wins from three in pre-season, also stressed that the deal for John, who arrives at Victoria Park on a season-long loan from York, had "nothing to do with" Joe Grey's move to the Minstermen.
Pools completed a deal for the versatile defender, who can operate as a left-back or centre-half, on Tuesday about an hour before York announced the permanent signing of Grey, who scored 24 goals in 155 matches at Victoria Park. The timing of the announcements led some fans to suggest that the deal was some sort of swap, with York loaning John to Pools in order to reduce the compensation they were required to pay for signing Grey, who made his debut aged 17. However, Grayson poured cold water on the rumour and revealed that Pools had been in talks with John for "a couple of weeks", while York had only registered their interest in Grey in "the last three or four days". The compensation which York are due to pay Pools for Grey is now set to be decided by a tribunal.
While fans were understandably disappointed to have lost Grey, the 22-year-old's departure had started to feel inevitable as contract talks showed little sign of progressing. Grey, who made his York debut in a pre-season friendly against Sheffield United in midweek, becomes the second high profile player to have left Pools this summer, following in the footsteps of talismanic striker Mani Dieseruvwe; between them, the pair scored 38 goals in the 2023/24 season.
Despite some disappointing departures, Pools look to have made a decent start to their summer recruitment, with John becoming the club's seventh signing following the arrivals of Brad Walker, Reiss McNally, Jay Benn, Danny Johnson, Jermaine Francis and Maxim Kouogun. While there are some areas Pools still need to strengthen - the club are in dire need of a new goalkeeper, with Adam Smith currently the only available option, while Grayson will likely also be targeting a focal point up front to bring the best out of Johnson - there are signs the squad is beginning to take shape.
Certainly, John has the potential to be an important piece of the Pools puzzle. Left-back has been a perpetual source of contention at Victoria Park, with the long-serving David Ferguson, who left to sign for Gateshead last month, dividing opinion on the terraces while the likes of Matthew Bondswell and Jack Robinson failed to displace him in the side. Now, fans will be hoping John can provide some much-needed consistency and reliability at left-back; the 25-year-old arrives with decent National League experience, having made 55 appearances for Rochdale and played 34 times in a York side who finished second last term. The defender, who came through the ranks at Southend before spending time at Wolves and Doncaster, will also add balance and more versatility to Grayson's defensive options, with the new man comfortable anywhere on the left side of the back line.
"Cameron ticks a lot of boxes," Grayson said.
"I'm delighted to sign him, I first spoke to him a couple of weeks ago.
"Everybody's trying to put two and two together with the Joe Grey situation, it has got nothing to do with that. We've been speaking to Cameron and York, everything was agreed two weeks ago. It was just that things have taken a little bit of time to develop.
"The Joe Grey deal has only happened in the last three or four days. This has got no relevance to any knocking off tribunal money or anything like that, it's a separate deal completely.
"I'm delighted to have Cam because he's a versatile player with good experience at this level as well."