EFL club's chief admits interest in signing Middlesbrough defender this summer

Blackpool sporting director David Downes says they will be in the discussion to try and sign Hayden Coulson this summer after his successful loan spell from Middlesbrough last season.

Coulson spent the second half of last season on loan at Bloomfield Road and manager Neil Critchley described his contributions as 'fantastic'. He also admitted that discussions had taken place with Boro about the possibility of re-signing him this summer, with Coulson seemingly having little future at the Riverside.

And in a question and answer session with the Blackpool Fans Forum, the Seasiders' sporting director has admitted they would love to make the left-back a Blackpool player this summer, though he didn't want to say too much, with Coulson still contracted to Boro.

READ MORE: Middlesbrough defender Hayden Coulson playing his way towards permanent Blackpool transfer

Downes told the Fans Forum, as quoted by the Blackpool Gazette: "It’s difficult to speak about individual players. 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."

Boro are likely to be open to selling Coulson this summer, with Lukas Engel and Alex Bangura ahead of him in the pecking order and plans to monitor Ryan Giles closely too, with the potential to re-sign him if the finances of a deal with Hull City prove viable.

Coulson looked set to leave Boro 12 months ago on a free transfer after being loaned out to Aberdeen for what was the final year of his contract. However, with Michael Carrick arriving in the meantime and having former Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate join him, Coulson was handed a new two-year deal at the Riverside and an opportunity to impress after his initial breakthrough under the now-assistant coach.

The academy graduate was given last summer's friendlies to try and impress and started the first game of last season. However, Engel and Bangura arrived later in the window with Coulson seemingly failing to do enough to convince Carrick he deserved more game time.

As such, he was loaned out to Blackpool for the second half of last season and he impressed for League One side despite the fact they ultimately missed out on a place in the play-offs on the final day. The decision to hand Coulson a new deal last year could still pay off for Boro, however, with any fee they receive worth more than the wages paid to him in the last 12 months.