New boy Luke George aims for Football League return with Hartlepool United

The combative midfielder made up 25% of a breathtaking day of transfer business at the Northern Gas & Power Stadium.

New boss Craig Harrison signed FOUR players - former England keeper Scott Loach, George, and forwards Jack Munns and Jack Cassidy.

The quartet were unveiled at the Vic and all four have very recent National League experience.

Loach, who has joined from Notts County, spent a chunk of last season at York, while George skippered Chester and Cassidy revived his career at Guiseley. Munns starred for Cheltenham the previous year when the Robinson won instant promotion to the Football League.

And George says that is the goal for Pools when they get under way in August.

“It’s the first time Hartlepool have dropped out of the Football League so it would be very nice to bounce back at the first attempt,” said the 24-year-old, who said Pools can afford no relegation hangover.

“There’s no time to dwell in football, I’ve had a brief chat with the gaffer, it’s about bouncing straight back for us now.”

George had been offered a new deal by Chester but says the chance to join Pools was too good to turn down.

The Scouser explained how Harrison’s positive message had won him over immediately.

“I’m very excited to have got the deal done,” he said. “This is a massive club.

“It’s a big opportunity for me

“The gaffer has been manager at TNS and lives in Chester, where I’ve been playing.

“I don’t know him personally, but I’ve had a brief chat on the phone with him and he said all the right things.

“He wants to rebuild the club and get Hartlepool back in the Football League.

“That is something I want to do, I want to be a Football League player.

“I have vast experience of the National League, something he understands he needs and was looking to bring in.”

George brings a blood and guts approach to the centre of the park, something many fans will yearn after an absence of a midfield enforcer.

The former Southport skipper, who received one six-match FA ban last season for violent conduct, says he can play football but acknowledges his role is to stop the opposition from doing that!

“That’s what I am about, a ball-winning midfielder,” he said in an interview with the Pools website.

“I do the dirty work, the stuff that not every player likes to do.

“I like to play on the front foot, I like to press teams, win first balls, win second balls, turn over possession.

“Obviously, I’ll be there to fill gaps, spot danger, and to the lads in the final third I’ll give them a little bit more freedom.

“I can play as well a little bit, I can get on the ball, I’m not totally downgrading myself.”