Chris Turner has today revealed that defender Michael Nelson has rejected the contract offer made to him by Pools and will not be re-signing for next season.

The 29-year-old joined the Club back in June 2003 and has been a virtual ever-present during his six years with Pools.

Nelson made his debut in the thrilling 4-3 win at Peterborough United on 9^th August 2009, and was just one of four debutants to score in that game.

Having captained the side regularly over the past few seasons, Nelson has been an important member of the squad and Director of Sport Turner is sorry to see him go,

"I am disappointed that Michael has chosen to leave the Club but I can understand his decision," Turner told hartlepoolunited.co.uk.

"This could be a big time for him to move on and he'll leave the Football Club with our best wishes after giving us six good years of service.

"While I am disappointed, we have to move on now and look to the future and hopefully we can have successful times ahead despite the loss of Michael Nelson."

Turner has already added defender Peter Hartley, Leon McSweeney, Adam Boyd and Neil Austin to his squad for next season and is still busy working in the transfer market.

Meanwhile, Nelson has been linked with several League One clubs already this summer.