GARRY MONK has told Stewart Downing he can leave Middlesbrough on a free transfer.

Downing, who has two years left on the four year contract he signed after leaving West Ham in the summer 2015, does not fit into the new Boro boss’ plans and has been told he can move on.

The homegrown winger is in his second spell at Middlesbrough and there was a chance he could have left in January after a fall-out with Aitor Karanka.

There was interest in him then but Middlesbrough only wanted him to leave on loan to the Championship, something the 32-year-old was not prepared to do.

Downing had interest in him from Crystal Palace, when Sam Allardyce was in charge, and from the United States, and such interest could soon resurface now it has become clear he will be leaving again this summer.

The meeting with Monk and the former Liverpool and England man is believed to have been amicable and now the player will be looking at a future away from the Riverside.

Downing has struggled to find top form consistently since leaving West Ham two years ago in a £5.5m deal, and that was put largely down to his relationship with Karanka.

He is in his second spell at the club where he graduated from the academy. The Pallister Park raised winger initially left Middlesbrough in 2009, following relegation from the Premier League, when he moved to Aston Villa in a £12m deal.

Downing has gone onto have spells with Liverpool and West Ham before returning back to Teesside two summers ago when he wanted to help Middlesbrough back to the Premier League.