Keith Curle confirms Newcastle United scouting trip and issues Hartlepool United transfer promise

Curle, who was made the club’s permanent manager ahead of the humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Stockport County, was in attendance alongside non-executive director Lennie Lawrence at the Magpies under-21s’ Premier League Cup defeat at Sheffield United last week as speculation grows over the club renewing their interest in the 20-year-old midfielder.

Hartlepool tried to bring White back to the club on loan in the summer before the former Carlisle United man opted to remain on Tyneside having not long returned from a pre-season injury.

White spent the second half of last season on loan at the Suit Direct Stadium and could be one of a number of players on Curle’s radar as he desperately seeks reinforcements to help aid his failing side.

“Yeah [we were there],” Curle confirmed to The Mail when asked about potentially watching White.

“I think there’s a couple of players there, but myself, Lennie, Chris and Colin have got eyes on the ground.

“As you can imagine with the contact book that we’ve got there’s a few players that we’re looking at that we want to have another look at.”

The Hartlepool boss was also in attendance at Darlington’s National League North fixture with Kettering Town last week before watching his side suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of Stockport to remain at the foot of the League Two table.

In the wake of their 5-0 loss, Curle suggested changes were needed at Hartlepool with the January transfer window seemingly crucial to the club’s survival efforts before reassuring supporters that finances will not be an issue next month.

Curle told The Mail: “In the ideal world on January 2 we’ve done all of our shopping and we’ve got all of our business done. But it doesn’t work like that.”

He added: “There’s lots of work to do and it's not about money. If it was purely about finances we’re in a comfortable position as a football club.

“Are we going to buy our way out of it? We’re going to be astute and bring in characters, the right people, to give us the best opportunity of maintaining our league status.

“The stakeholders and myself are in daily contact. We know what we need and we know the areas where we want to bring in.

“We’ve identified the players that we want to bring in, the lines of communication are open. We won’t fall down on finances.”

And having seen his interim role turned into a permanent one from chairman Raj Singh, it appears all hands will be on deck for the January transfer window.

Singh said when confirming Curle on an 18-month permanent deal: “It will give us continuity and a chance to properly plan and invest into the January window, with both the immediate task in hand this season but also with one eye looking ahead to next season.

“I am really excited to see what they can achieve once they’ve had the luxury of the backing in the transfer windows as of their predecessors.”