JOE LUMLEY has left Middlesbrough on a season-long loan to Championship rivals Reading.

With Boro’s goalkeeping undergoing a significant summer shake-up, Lumley has been allowed to join Royals for the whole of next season.

The loan deal takes him to the end of his contract at the Riverside, so his departure means he has effectively played his last game for Boro.

“The goalkeeping position was a difficult one to solve for this club last season,” said Reading boss Paul Ince. “So, it was a priority to add strength in depth to that corner of the dressing room ahead of a brand new challenge in 2022-23.

“Lumley is a tall, confident, capable young keeper and he will be hungry to stake a claim for the goalkeeper position when he joins us at the start of pre-season training this week.”

The 27-year-old joined Boro from QPR last summer, and made 39 senior appearances last season under both Neil Warnock and Chris Wilder.

However, he made a number of errors that eventually led to him being dropped to the bench for the final six matches of the campaign, with Luke Daniels taking over goalkeeping duties.

Daniels is also expected to move on this summer, with Wilder already having sanctioned the permanent departure of Dejan Stojanovic.

The Boro boss will bring in two new keepers of his own, with talks having taken place over Newcastle United’s Karl Darlow, Leicester City’s Daniel Iversen and Manchester United’s Tom Heaton.

Heaton is currently regarded as the strongest candidate for the number one role, with Boro also close to completing a deal that would see Northampton Town’s Liam Roberts arrive as the number two.