THE shaping of Middlesbrough's squad for next season is already underway, with the club sanctioning the summer exit of four senior players whose contracts are due to expire.

Goalkeepers Luke Daniels and Joe Lumley are leaving Boro, as are defenders Grant Hall and Darnell Fisher.

All four players were expected to leave, with Lumley and Hall having spent the most recent season out on loan.

Daniels was third choice keeper this season and didn't play a single minute, while Fisher was introduced from the bench in stoppage time of the final game of the regular season against Coventry City after more than two years out with a knee injury.

While Michael Carrick has no intention of overhauling his squad this summer, there will be a new look to Boro when pre-season gets underway with six loan players - Cameron Archer, Ryan Giles, Alex Mowatt, Rodrigo Muniz, Aaron Ramsey and Zack Steffen - all returning to their parent clubs.

Lumley and Daniels joined Boro in the summer of 2021 when Neil Warnock was in charge. Both had stints with the gloves that season but neither convinced and Zack Steffen and Liam Roberts both arrived 12 months ago to bolster the goalkeeping department.

Lumley joined Reading on loan and impressed, winning the Players' Player of the Year award this season. However, with the Royals having suffered relegation to League One, it's not clear whether the keeper will make that move permanent or look for another Championship club.

Daniels was hoping to find a new club in January but a deal couldn't be struck. He tweeted last week: "Sometimes things don’t work out the way you hope but thankful for the opportunity to wear the Boro shirt. Nothing but positivity for a club heading in the right direction. Looking forward to whatever comes next #UTB."

Hall was Warnock's first signing in the summer of 2020. He made 20 appearances for Boro in his first season and eight in the first half of the following campaign, but slipped out of the first team picture after Chris Wilder's appointment.

The defender joined Rotherham on loan 12 months ago but his time with the Millers was disrupted by injury.

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Fisher enjoyed a promising start to life at Boro after joining in January 2021, but a freak knee injury at home ruled the right-back out of action for more than two years.

After his return from the bench against Coventry, Michael Carrick said: "I was really keen to get Darnell involved and back on the pitch. He's worked so hard.

"He's had an unbelievably tough run with a long, long time out and he's trained so hard and worked so hard.

"He's had different setbacks so credit to him, he's trained and trained and deserves it. I was really pleased, that was a big positive."

Boro have also released youngsters Isiah Cornet, Joe Ridley, Oliver Swan, and Alfie Doherty, along with scholars Louie Evans, Ash MacCarthy, and Tylah Wallace-Ming.

Jeremy Sivi and Isaac Fletcher have been offered contract extensions, while Fenton John, Henry Popple, and Nathan Simpson will all step up as first-year professionals.