This is what Dave Challinor said previously about a permanent move for Richie Bennett as striker is released from Stockport County

The 30-year-old striker scored five goals in four games for Pools, including a hat-trick in a 7-2 win at Wealdstone back in April.

Bennett then returned to Stockport but couldn’t help them earn promotion via the play-offs as they were beaten 1-0 by his former loan side and eventual winners Hartlepool.

The Hatters have now cancelled Bennett’s contract at Edgeley Park, leaving him free to find a new club.

Despite Pools’ new League Two status, manager Dave Challinor has admitted a permanent return is ‘a non-starter’.

"Without speaking out of turn, people have asked about us doing Richie on a permanent, Richie is on more than double what any of our players earn,” Challinor told The Mail prior to Pools’ play-off success.

“There is no way we could ever afford to do things on a permanent basis with players like him. All of our loans this season, we’ve not paid more than 50-per-cent of a player’s wages so that has allowed us to get the players in that we’ve got in and in most cases, it’s a lot less than 50-per-cent.

"When you talk permanent deals, there’s a lot of players who fall well outside of our budget and that will be the case in the summer.

"Without pre-empting stuff, it will probably be the case where we’ll lose some players in the summer because other teams can pay them more money than what we can.”

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Hartlepool United coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor