Harrogate Town's former Motherwell FC midfielder Dean Cornelius is 'a player with so much potential'

The 22-year-old central midfielder swapped the Scottish Premiership for League Two when he joined the Sulphurites last week having turned down the opportunity to extend his stay with boyhood club Motherwell.

The Sulphurites reportedly beat off competition from a host of Football League sides to land the former Scotland under-21 international, who put pen to paper on a two-year deal at Wetherby Road.

And Town boss Simon Weaver says he is thrilled to bring in a player who of real pedigree whom he is confident will only going to get better and better.

“We are delighted to sign Dean, he is a player with so much potential," he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"He has so much energy, a great attitude and plenty of experience for someone his age, while at the same time also being young enough that he still has time to grow and develop and improve.

"We became aware of him around the start of the year. We knew that his contract was up at Motherwell and we felt like he was very much what we class as a 'Harrogate Town player'.

"We have dealt with his agent before when we brought Josh McPake down here [on loan from Glasgow Rangers in 2021], we get on well with him, particularly Paul Thirlwell, who has been in constant dialogue, along with Lloyd Kerry, about Dean's situation.

"So I think that worked in our favour and I am just really pleased to have been able to get this one over the line. We are very happy that Dean is our player.”

Cornelius joins Town following a stellar season in Scotland’s top-flight, which saw him make 34 appearances and led to him becoming the subject of interest from a number of League One and League Two clubs.

On how he and his recruitment team managed to persuade the ex-Hibernian man that his future lay in North Yorkshire, Weaver said: "I believe that there was interest from other clubs, but we were confident that we could get this one done.

"I think we have shown over the last few years that when talented players come here, they get the opportunity to show what they can do and can really flourish.

"Take Jaheim Headley last season, for example. He was on loan, so that was obviously a bit different, however he still came to us and got that exposure to regular first-team football at Football League level and look how he has gone on and progressed.

"We’ve been a springboard for players with potential from what you would call ‘bigger’ clubs, we’ve provided them with a chance to play games and grow.

"Another factor was us being one of the most northern League Two clubs, which means that Dean isn’t too far away from home, so it’s easier for him logistically than it might have been if he’d signed elsewhere.”

Cornelius has been handed the number eight shirt and follows attacking midfielder Matty Daly, defenders Lewis Gibson, Matty Foulds and Rod McDonald and goalkeeper Lewis Thomas into the EnviroVent Stadium.