George Thomson remains a target for Chester FC despite returning to Kings Lynn Town after an impressive trial.

Attacking midfielder Thomson joined up with Steve Burr's squad for the start of pre-season after the Blues activated a clause in his contract with the Evo-Stik League Premier Division club.

Thomson, who started his career with Nottingham Forest, scored twice in the 4-2 win over Marine and featured in the 1-1 draw with Crewe Alexandra.

Burr and first team coach Jon McCarthy were keen on signing the 22-year-old but were unable to offer him a deal owing to budget constraints.

Thomson, who is under contract at The Walks until the end of the 2014-15 season, featured for the Linnets squad in the 3-0 pre-season loss to Cambridge United on Wednesday.

Kings Lynn boss Gary Setchell admitted he had expected the Blues to sign Thomson but was pleased to welcome him back into his squad.

"He was on the verge of a full-time deal, I think Chester wanted him but they couldn't find the funds for him so he's disappointed," said Setchell.

"I thought I'd lost him. I though he'd done enough at Chester from what I was reading and what I was hearing."

Although Thomson has now returned to Norfolk, McCarthy said it was very possible the club would rekindle its interest in him.

Burr wants to bring in an additional midfielder but his plans are on hold until the future of transfer-listed goalkeeper John Danby has been resolved.

McCarthy said: "It's not the case that we're not interested in George.

"We've been really honest about the finances, we know what our budget is and we're up close to that budget.

"George Thomson has come in and done really well, and he's still on our radar as well as some of other lads on trial.

"It's not that there isn't any interest, it's that we can't go over our budget but things can change."

Danby signed a two-year part-time contract last summer but his work commitments clash with the new daytime training model, meaning the 30-year-old cannot train with the rest of the squad.

McCarthy stressed there are no issues between the club and Danby, but explained that offloading a player who is effectively unavailable for selection made sense for all parties.

"I think some people gave tried to steer things up but there is absolutely no problem," said McCarthy.

"John Danby is a model pro and I meant that, but we've got a player that we can't play and that's the situation.

"If something got sorted out then it needs to be right for John, and that would clearly help us too."

In the meantime, Thomson remains a Kings Lynn player but has attracted interest from other clubs.

Setchell revealed the midfielder had trained with Wrexham after leaving the Blues but said Thomson was very much part of his plans as things stand.

"He's a Kings Lynn player, he's on contract at Kings Lynn and that was never no different," said Setchell.

"He went for a two-game trial at Chester, he didn't get a deal, he come back to Kings Lynn.

"The time had to come when he came back to Kings Lynn. We give him his opportunity to go and have his trial games and that hasn't quite worked out for him.

"George will get his time, there's no question about that. If he keeps performing at the level like he did last year and he has pre-season this year then he'll get an opportunity because he's a good footballer."