Graeme Lee is excited by the arrival of Middlesbrough attacker Isaac Fletcher as Hartlepool United make third January signing

Lee has been chasing the 19-year-old since making the move to the Hartlepool United dugout from Boro’s academy and has had to remain patient to get the deal over the line with Chris Wilder keen to maintain his squad after a difficult spell with COVID-19 plagued the Teessiders.

But Lee was finally able to strike a deal with the Riverside club and get his man with Fletcher to remain at the Suit Direct Stadium for the rest of the season.

Fletcher has impressed in Boro’s academy ranks for a number of years at both U18 and U23 level and is one of those players flirting on the fringes of exposure to Boro’s first team.

The 6'4" attacker can ply his trade in a number of positions across the frontline and Pools boss Lee believes he will be a huge asset to his squad.

“He lives and breathes football,” said Lee.

“He creates and scores goals. He always wants to drive, he always wants to create, and looking at our previous weeks it’s something we’ve been lacking .

“We want to try and get a bit more creativity in there and he offers us that threat.

“He’ll be a great asset to the squad and, for Middlesbrough, I think it’s great for a young lad like Fletch coming out on-loan.”

The 19-year-old’s development has been hindered slightly with injuries this season but Lee is confident Fletcher is ready for the Football League.

“He's had a few injury problems which has stopped his progression but I knew he was one of them who is ready to go into league football.

"Every time he played for me with the 23’s he was one of your main players.

“He’s a powerful young man. He’s always on the front foot and wants to create and score goals and he’s done that all of his young career in the 23’s and hopefully he’s going to continue to do that.

“He’s someone I've monitored the last couple of weeks just to see where his fitness levels were and how he is.

“I’ve spoken to the club before and we didn’t think we were going to get anyone.

“The manager was keen to keep a strong unit because of COVID and different things but fortunately they’ve allowed us to get Fletch which is brilliant for us and brilliant for him as well.”

After the recent exit of Matty Daly, Fletcher seems an ideal replacement for the Huddersfield Town midfielder after he was recalled and sent out on-loan to Bradford City.

Daly scored seven goals for Pools across all competitions and it is key for Lee to be able to replace those in the second half of the campaign.

“He can play higher, he can play in the midfield, but yeah he’s an attacking midfielder who can play,” said Lee.

“He’s been playing No.9 the last few games in the 23’s and I think he’s scored quite a few goals doing that time.

“The coaches [at Middlesbrough] keep saying to me he’s been outstanding within that, I've watched his clips, and he has. So he gives us options, not just in midfield, but higher up the pitch.”

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