Anthony Johnson praised Ross Hannah and Kingsley James for their conduct after the duo left Chester FC on Tuesday.
Hannah and James, who were the two highest earners at the football club, had their contracts cancelled by mutual consent after coming to a financial agreement with the Blues.
The duo had returned for pre-season training last week but the club had been actively looking to move them on since early this year when the extent of Chester's financial worries were made known.
Striker Hannah, 32, and midfielder James, 26, spent time on loan at Southport and Barrow toward the end of last season as Chester looked to save money on their outgoings in the midst of their crisis.
But with the duo having another year left on their two-year deals signed last summer, and with Chester relegated to the National League North and reverting back to a part-time structure, they were taking up a large proportion of Johnson and Bernard Morley's budget and their names had been circulated to clubs since the end of last season.
They have now left the Blues, with James linked heavily with a move to Guiseley, and Johnson praised them for how they conducted themselves.
"This hasn't been an easy situation for them and I have to say that since me and Bernard came into the football club they have been first class, both in training and speaking to them face to face and on the phone," said Johnson.
"They have conducted themselves superbly and they applied themselves well in pre-season training. We wish them all the best but it is something that we had to get done in order to make sure we could complete our recruitment for next season.
New signings at Chester FC
"The reality was that when we came into the building we had two players that were commanding around 40% of our budget between them. That was something we knew and we had been trying to work with Ross and Kingsley to help find them something elsewhere.
"What it does is free up a little bit of money in the budget to go out and get some more players who we have been targeting in and allows us to have a look at some trialists knowing that we can do something with them should they impress."
Johnson and Morley will be casting their eye over some hopefuls in a trialist game this evening.
The Blues bosses have invited around half a dozen hopefuls in for pre-season training and there are a couple who have already caught the eye.
But the Blues have missed out on one target.
"We thought we were close with a deal for a wide player but he has now opted for a move elsewhere," said Johnson.
"We haven't had too many knock backs so far this summer and what we do is move on to other targets. We were unable to push ahead with a few things until we resolved the Ross and Kingsley situation as we aren't going to start spending money that isn't there on the chance that something could happen.
"We're delighted with the business we have done so far and we are now looking for a couple of players who can sprinkle a little bit of magic."
