Former Preston North End striker Connor Simpson signs for Cork City

Simpson, 20, was a free agent having been released by North End in June after coming to the end of his contract.

The 6ft 5ins centre-forward is currently observing a two-week quarantine spell before meeting up with his new team-mates.

Simpson was signed by PNE in January 2018 in a £50,000 deal from Hartelpool United.

He featured just once in the first-team, that as a stoppage-time substitute in a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park a month after he signed.

North End loaned him out to Lancaster City, Hyde United, Carlisle United and Accrington Stanley.

The season-long loan at Accrington came to an end in March when the League One season was curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Simpson held talks with Cork boss Neale Fenn last week before finalising the move.

After putting pen to paper, Simpson said: "Neale and I had a chat on the phone, a good chat, where he explained to me how things work over here, told me a lot about the league and what the football is like.

"I’ve not had the best start to my career – I’ve had a couple of loan moves, but I haven’t played many games, which is want I want to do here at Cork City.

"I want to play a lot of football and score a lot of goals.

"I’ve seen that the club isn’t in a good place in the league at the moment, and I’d like to come in and contribute with a lot of goals and assists, and hopefully get the us back to where the club should be."

Simpson is now the third ex-North End player in the Cork squad, joining Graham Cummins and Kevin O'Connor.

Left-back O'Connor - himself released by PNE in June - rejoined Cork in the summer after being on loan at Waterford United.