A club’s sporting director has expressed an interest in signing a Middlesbrough player this summer.
Middlesbrough have been one of the more active clubs on the transfer front in the Championship this season as they look to improve on their 8-place finish from 2023/24.
After providing eight assists in 19 games during a loan spell from Leeds United in the second half of the campaign, right-back Luke Ayling has now made a permanent switch to Teesside on a free transfer.
Elsewhere, Columbus Crew midfielder Aidan Morris is on the verge of completing a move to Teesside for a fee of around £3.14m as Michael Carrick looks to strengthen in the centre of the pitch.
There have also been developments up front, with Delano Burgzorg, who spent last season on loan at Huddersfield Town – where he scored seven goals – joining the club on a permanent basis from Mainz 05.
There also looks set to be movement on the outings front, with Anfernee Dijksteel’s time at the Riverside potentially coming to an end and another Boro player garnering interest from an EFL club.
Blackpool want to sign Hayden Coulson this summer
The player in question is left-back Hayden Coulson, who spent the second half of this past season on loan in the Championship with Blackpool.
The 26-year-old made 19 appearances for The Seasiders, scoring two and assisting one, with his displays seemingly pleasing a number of important figures at the club.
Back in April of this year, Blackpool manager Neil Critchley labelled Coulson as ‘fantastic’ and stated the club were looking into the possibility of signing him on a permanent basis.
“They’ve made a huge difference [the loanees]. Hayden has been fantastic,” Critchley said. “That’s the discussions we’ve been having [can they sign them permanently in the summer], we’re always planning ahead.”
Now, Blackpool sporting director David Downes has once again been speaking about Coulson, admitting the Tangerines would ‘definitely’ be in the discussion for a permanent transfer of the defender, if Middlesbrough are open to selling:
“It’s difficult to speak about individual players,” Downes said. “I’ve signed George Byers twice- once for Sheffield Wednesday and once here, so naturally I know his agent very well so we are in discussions.
“He will have a lot of options, he’s a good player. He’s a free transfer so he’s probably easier to speak about, Hayden (Coulson) is a Middlesbrough player with a year left so ultimately if they do want to give him away and do something with ourselves- we’d definitely be in that discussion to bring him back.
“Ultimately he does have another year, and a year option. In terms of recruitment, we’ve done a lot of planning so we’re in the execution phase and trying to get one or two over the line.”
Given Coulson only has 12 months left on his current deal and is expected to be the third-choice left-back behind Lukas Engel and Alex Bangura if he stays at the Riverside in 2024/25, a move to Blackpool could be the best avenue for all parties involved.