Josh McPake is a man in-demand this summer it seems, with plenty of lower league EFL clubs all circling to try and convince him to join them on loan.

It began with a loan spell at Morecambe and after a further 14 game stint with Tranmere, he has clearly done enough to impress plenty more League Two outfits ahead of the transfer window this offseason.

Now, Hartlepool are amongst four or five sides all considering short-term bids for him when the window opens its doors - and it could be down to the player and his club Rangers where he ends up.

With this fresh interest from Hartlepool though, here is all we know about a potential deal so far.

 

 

What do we know so far?

With a structure now in place at the club ahead of the next campaign and with the fourth tier outfit determined to push on up the league, they are now identifying some potential targets.

McPake appears to be one and after looking fairly solid for Tranmere in the back end of last season, they are now keen to sign the player up themselves on a loan deal.

It won't be easy for them to do that though, with several other sides like Stockport, Crawley and Carlisle all considering bids of their own. As of yet though, there don't appear to be any official bids from Hartlepool or any other interested party.

Right now then, it could be a case of merely looking at targets for the League Two side and then deciding whether or not to make a bid when the window officially opens.

Is it likely to happen?

McPake certainly wants and needs more regular gametime and he isn't guaranteed to get that in Scotland with his parent club.

The Scottish Premier League side haven't given him any action yet, albeit he is still only young and is still only very early on in his career.

Right now though, the player has had to rely on short-term deals and action in the EFL to get his experience up and to continue his development. That looks like it could be the case again for next season and with interest high, a deal of some kind does look likely for him.

Whether or not that ends up being with Hartlepool is another matter. Again, there have been no official approaches from the League Two outfit for his services as of yet but the club were the highest ranked interested side in the fourth tier and if they can offer the player regular action, they could certainly tempt him and his parent club into doing business with them.