MIDDLESBROUGH have confirmed that Stewart Downing and Dimi Konstantopoulos’ long associations with the Riverside club are set to come to an end this summer.

Boro have released a statement on their official website to outline how the pair, plus John Obi Mikel and Andy Lonergan, have not been offered new deals.

But the statement does throw in the word “yet” to suggest there is still an outside chance that any new manager might want to try to keep them.

The statement reads: “Stewart Downing, Dimi Konstantopoulos, Andy Lonergan and John Obi Mikel are set to become free agents this summer. The quartet are all out of contract and have not yet been offered new deals to stay on.”

All four players’ deals are due to expire at the end of the month and there is already known to be strong interest expressed.

Mikel and Lonergan only joined on short-term deals last season during the course of the last season, while Downing and Konstantopoulos have both been on Teesside for years.

The Northern Echo revealed this morning how Blackburn have already been in touch with Downing to discuss a move, while there is also interest in him from Sunderland, Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday.

Middlesbrough-born Downing, 34, is a graduate of the club’s academy and he is in his second spell at Middlesbrough, having made his debut as a 17-year-old in 2002. He has gone on to make more than 400 appearances for the club.

Konstantopoulos, 41, was a key player in the Middlesbrough’s most recent promotion campaign when he kept 22 league clean sheets. He made a total of 112 appearances after joining instead of Hartlepool in 2013. He became the oldest player to wear a Middlesbrough shirt in January when he played against Peterborough United in the FA Cup.

Middlesbrough have also confirmed that Mo Besic, Jordan Hugill and Rajiv van la Parra have also left after their loans came to an end.

Boro chairman Steve Gibson is continuing the search for a new manager, with Slavisa Jokanovic the favourite along with Jonathan Woodgate. Manchester City's No 2 Mikel Arteta has also seen his price drop dramatically overnight.