Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock would like to secure players in return if he is to allow Ipswich Town target Hayden Coulson to depart this summer.

The left-back has fallen down the pecking order at the Riverside and could potentially move on in the coming weeks, with Ipswich known to be interested and Sunderland also reported to be keen on the 23-year-old.

But, while it’s thought old stager Warnock will allow Coulson to move on, the Boro boss has revealed his desire to bring in players as part of swaps deals as he looks to strengthen his own squad this summer.

Middlesbrough are one of a number of clubs to be linked with Ipswich midfielder Flynn Downes in national reports, though we understand Bournemouth head the queue for the academy graduate.

Ipswich Star: Middlesbrough boss Neil WarnockMiddlesbrough boss Neil Warnock (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

"A lot would depend on the offers we get for these players," Warnock told the Teesside Gazette.

"I'm more concerned with players, you talk about Coulson and Wingy (Lewis Wing), it's players I want, so I'm trying to do more with swapping players than I am letting players go. We haven't got enough bodies at the minute."

Warnock continued: "I think everybody knows I'm looking for strikers.

"It's what crops up. It's amazing what crops up later on. We have a couple in the pipeline if we can agree with clubs. We're a little bit away from agreeing at the moment, things change.”

Town are in the market for another left-back this summer, in addition to the addition of former Sheffield Wednesday man Matt Penney.

Myles Kenlock is currently training with the club’s Under 23s and is highly unlikely to have a future under Paul Cook, while Stephen Ward was allowed to move on at the end of his contract. He’s since joined Walsall in League Two.

Coulson made 46 appearances in the Championship for his boyhood club over the last two seasons and is primarily an attack-minded left-back but is also capable of playing as a winger or a No.10.