Graeme Lee reveals he could visit former club Middlesbrough as he looks to bolster Hartlepool United squad in the January transfer market

Upon his arrival in early December, Lee was assured there will be funds available to spend in January should he need to bolster his squad after a busy Christmas period at the Suit Direct Stadium.

Lee has spoken at length about the desire to only bring in players if they are able to make an immediate impact on the squad and that could mean heading back to his former club Middlesbrough.

Lee spent over a decade on Teesside in Boro’s academy ranks as he helped develop players for the first team and, as a result, will be more than familiar with the players among the Championship club’s ranks and what they could bring to his side.

“I’ve spoken to Middlesbrough regarding certain players - the ones I know well,” Lee revealed.

“But we’ve not just spoken to Middlesbrough, we have spoken to many, many different clubs in the last two weeks and it’s about bringing the right ones in.

“I know there’s certain players at Middlesbrough who could come in and impact us but I also know there’s an array of different clubs so my job, and the job of the staff, is to pick the right ones to come in.”

Lee takes his side to Colchester United this weekend looking to build on an unbeaten start to his reign as manager following last week’s goalless draw with Scunthorpe United but admits the club has one eye on the winter window.

And it’s something which club chairman Raj Singh and non-executive director Adrian Bevington have each reiterated having disclosed in recent weeks that the club are ‘very serious’ about January and progressing both on and off the field.

“We’ve had meetings and meetings. We’ve watched many players and we’ve got targets that we think could improve the squad and we’ll be doing everything we can to do that.

“At the moment we’re a couple of weeks away from that happening but we are in discussions all the time.”

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