Josh McPake is a name that seems to be interesting plenty of Football League outfits this summer, with Crawley eager to try and snap the player up and Stockport also keeping tabs on the situation.

Now, a third outfit has entered the race to sign him, with the Northern Echo claiming that Hartlepool also have aspirations of bringing the player into League Two next season.

The player had two separate loan stints in England in the last campaign, with Morecambe taking the player on first before he ended the season with Tranmere. He managed only seven outings for the former of the two sides but impressed more with Rovers from January onwards, appearing 14 times and bagging a goal.

Now, it appears there is plenty of interest in bringing him back to England this summer. The 20-year-old has still yet to play for his parent club Rangers and has instead had to make do with gametime for their Under-21 team instead.

Rather than bringing him back to merely sit on the bench then, it could be beneficial to send him out on a short-term basis yet again - and Hartlepool are now the latest team to register an interest in his services.

The League Two outfit managed to steer clear of the relegation places in the fourth tier during the last campaign and ended up finishing in 17th place. Now, they will want to push on and try and finish much further up the table next time out - and adding youngsters like McPake, with plenty of EFL experience already, could help them.

They face competition to sign him from divisional rivals Carlisle and newboys Stockport - and it could end up being who offers Rangers and the player the best deal during the offseason that lands him.

The Verdict

Josh McPake has been decent enough in the Football League so far and for a young player, he has already proven he can be a decent starting option at a League Two level, if not a squad rotation option at the very least.

It's no surprise then to see three fourth tier outfits all try and secure his signature this offseason. It seems likely that another short-term deal will happen, with Rangers not likely to give him the first-team football that he will crave again in the next campaign.

That could mean his services are touted on loan again and there appears to be plenty of interest in the player mounting already. In terms of league standing and who has the potential to do the best next time out, Hartlepool would likely be the frontrunners unless Stockport splash plenty of cash this offseason. The club finished the highest of the three teams last time out and could kick on next year.

McPake will likely not be bothered who he joins - as long as the team he does seal a switch to can offer him much more frequent football.