MIDDLESBROUGH defender Hayden Coulson could be playing his way to a permanent move in the summer after impressing on loan at Blackpool.

Coulson looked set to leave Boro as a free agent 12 months ago but was rather surprisingly offered a new deal before returning from a loan spell with Aberdeen.

He started the first couple of games of the season for Boro but quickly slipped down the pecking order after the arrival of Lukas Engel and Alex Bangura and didn't play another minute in the Championship before joining Blackpool in January.

The 24-year-old has established himself as a key player for Neil Critchley's side, who are currently eighth in League One but still have a chance of breaking into the play-off positions in the final weekend of the season.

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Coulson is one of a number of loanees who has impressed with the Seasiders - with ex-Boro striker Jordan Rhodes another - and regardless of how the final game of the season plays out, Critchley is interesting in making temporary deals permanent this summer.

"They’ve made a huge difference," said the Blackpool boss of his loanees.

"Hayden has been fantastic. There’s Rhodesy as well, they’ve made a big difference."

Asked whether permanent deals will be possible in the summer, Critchley told the Blackpool Gazette: "That’s the discussions we’ve been having, we’re always planning ahead.

"With loan players, their parent clubs have something to say, and when they play well, you get interest from elsewhere. They’re not our players so it’s out of our hands.

"They’ve all contributed and shown their value to the club. They’ve also shown what good people they are and how much they’ve enjoyed playing here, so it’s definitely something we will look at when the season ends.”

Coulson's current contract at the Riverside runs to the summer of 2025, with Boro then having the option to extend it by a further year.

Having failed to take the chance to make the left-back spot his own last summer, Coulson is unlikely to feature in Michael Carrick's plans moving forward.

The defender made an impressive breakthroughfive years ago when Jonathan Woodgate was in charge, but lost his place when Neil Warnock arrived as manager.

He went on to have loan spells at Ipswich and Peterborough before spending last season with Aberdeen.