Maidstone fans may have to wait until September to watch their newest signing in action.

Johan ter Horst, who completed his move to the Gallagher on Tuesday, dislocated his shoulder scoring for Hull's under-23 side against Charlton at The Valley in May.

The 22-year-old had surgery on both shoulders and will miss the first few weeks of the season but Stones boss Jay Saunders is confident he'll be up to speed quickly.

Saunders said: "He’s not going to be fit probably until the end of August or maybe a couple of weeks after but I just felt it was a good opportunity for us.

"We’ve got a deal where, once he’s fit, he’ll get a proper wage. All the time he’s not available for selection, he won’t get the wages that he will when he’s fit. We’ve covered that and he understands that.

"I suppose it is a little bit of a risk, signing someone who’s injured but we spoke to the surgeons and we spoke to the Hull physios and they’re all quietly confident.

"Once you have this operation, there’s almost no chance of it happening again. You’d have to be very unlucky.

"He’s a goal scorer and they don’t come around often. He’s young and I honestly believe that if he comes in and scores goals, he’ll kick on again."

Maidstove moved quickly when Hull released ter Horst at the end of the season.

Saunders said: "He’s someone we’ve known about for a long time. I remember him scoring a few goals against us when he was at Folkestone and playing against us in the Ryman South play-off semi-final. He's a goal scorer and he’s someone we kept an eye on.

"He got his move (to Hull), which he fully deserved, and it’s one we’ve monitored to see what was happening with him.

"I felt we needed another option up front and when I saw he’d been released, I thought I’d make contact and see how it went.

"He seemed keen, we had a meet and he’s a good lad, wants to do well and wants to kick on now. He’s had three years of good schooling up at Hull but he now wants to get amongst the competitive football side again.

"No matter what you say, when you go to clubs like that and you’re not getting first team football, it’s not the same as being out and getting that. He experienced that at Folkestone so I think he’s keen to get back in amongst that.

"It’s an opportunity for him and I think it’s a good one for us. If he comes in and scores goals for us, I can see him kicking on again.

"I spoke to Hull and a few of the fellas I know up there about how he did and a couple of them felt he was unfortunate to not get a new deal.

"They were really impressed with him, said he scores all sorts of goals, he’s been a regular scorer in their reserve side.

"I spoke to Paul Booth, who played with him at Folkestone when he got the move and I spoke to Roland Edge, who knows him as a person and they both spoke highly of him.

"I just think he gives us another option. We’ve got Jamar Loza, Joe Pigott, Delano Sam-Yorke and Johan’s different to that. He likes to play on the shoulder, he’s very quick and if he gets a chance, he can take it.

"For me, it was a no-brainer."