A reported Hartlepool United transfer target has officially joined a National League rival.

Hartlepool United have missed out on the signature of one reported attacking target after National League rivals Scunthorpe United officially completed the signing of Chester winger Pat Jones.

As relayed by The Mail earlier this week, The Seal initially reported Pools were unsuccessful with two separate offers for the seven-times capped Wales Under-21 international and that has allowed Scunthorpe to steal a march in the race for his services. The Iron officially agreed an undisclosed fee with the National League North club on Monday and the 22-year-old winger officially put pen to paper on a deal with the Iron on Tuesday and was handed an immediate debut as he came off the bench as a half-time substitute in his new side’s 2-1 home defeat against Sutton United just hours later. The move came after Scunthorpe confirmed forward Carlton Ubaezuonu had joined National League North club Kings Lynn Town and manager Andy Butler explained the reasons behind both moves after Tuesday’s loss.

He told the club’s official YouTube channel: “Carlton has written his name into the history of Scunthorpe United, it’s something you can’t take away from him now. I had a good chat with him, he was really emotional when he left because it’s been a big part of his career. It’s probably his first full-time club and he had a great impact. He’s a big character but as I say with players, if you want to further your career, I’m not going to stand in the way. King’s Lynn made an approach, I said to go and speak to them and we brought Pat in. I think Pat is going to be exciting, you saw a little glimpse of him today and he will be good for us.

“I had a good chat with him and it literally happened from last night (Monday). We were chatting last night and when we say we treat people right, we’ve got Michael Kelly and Fin (Shrimpton) at Chester and Pat spoke to them and they gave us glowing references. So that probably helped his decision. I think other clubs probably offered more money, but in terms of a package, I think we looked quite attractive in terms of fan base and where we are in the division so he wanted to test himself and he chose us. I think it’s a great acquisition for the club because there was a lot of interest around from other clubs but he felt we were the right fit for him.”

Speaking to Chester’s club website about the sale, CFU Vice-Chair Jim Green said: “While we are disappointed Pat is leaving the football club, we understood that he had aspirations to return to full-time football when the opportunity presented itself. We were fortunate that circumstances in the summer enabled us to bring Pat to Chester, and it’s been a positive move for all parties. Pat leaves on good terms and with our best wishes.”

Pools will get a first-hand view of what they could have secured with Jones when they travel to Scunthorpe on Good Friday.

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