Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor explains why deadline day moves for Sunderland's Benji Kimpioka and Carlisle United's Gime Toure failed to materialise

Pools made a last ditch effort to sign Benji Kimpioka on loan from Sunderland in the final moments of the transfer window only for the move to fall through due to paperwork issues.

Challinor also confirmed Pools had made a move to try and bring Gime Toure back to Victoria Park. The Carlisle United forward wasn’t named in the squad to face Pools in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday night with the club’s looking to come to an agreement.

Toure scored 13 goals in 40 appearances for Hartlepool during the 2019-20 campaign and has worked under Challinor twice previously.

But Kimpioka and Toure were just two of a huge pool of players Challinor was trying to make a move for.

“You can’t come closer really,” admitted the Hartlepool manager when asked how close the club came to securing a striker on deadline day.

“Things don’t happen sometimes and we lost out on different things over the course of the day. Players went to different clubs, clubs not agreeing to permanent deals, not answering phone calls as the day went on which was frustrated.

"It ended with paperwork not being submitted by specific clubs so we went right until the deadline and we were working right until 11pm and unfortunately things didn’t get over the line.