THERE'S been plenty of understandable attention surrounding Middlesbrough's departing loanees since the play-off heartbreak against Coventry City, but come the start of pre-season it's returning loan players who'll be looking to make a Boro impact.

Boro are almost certain to once again look to put their contacts book to good use and make the most of the Premier League loan market this summer after last season's success, with Zack Steffen, Ryan Giles, Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey all making their mark on Teesside after joining from top flight clubs.

Whether there's any chance of any of those players returning to the Riverside is not yet clear, but Boro had their summer transfer plan in place long before the end of the season, with Michael Carrick saying in early April: "We know which direction we want to go in, we know what we need to do, but we have to be flexible, patient and quite decisive in how we go about things."

Boro will undoubtedly add to their ranks but will start pre-season in a position of strength and some players who were on the club's books last term but not available to Carrick will be looking to force their way into the head coach's plans.

The headline act of the returning loan players is Josh Coburn, the young striker who burst onto the scene with Boro first under Neil Warnock and then scored that unforgettable FA Cup goal against Tottenham when Chris Wilder was in charge.

Wilder sanctioned the loan exit of Coburn last summer with Bristol Rovers winning the battle for the in-demand 20-year-old.

After scoring nine goals before the end of January, Rovers feared Boro would recall Coburn but Carrick and the club's recruitment bosses were all in agreement that the striker was best spending the full season in League One. The second half of the campaign proved more difficult for Coburn, who was nursing a couple of niggling injuries, but he impressed at the Memorial Stadium, with Joey Barton even tipping him to go on and play for England in the future. The immediate priority for Coburn is playing for Boro.

With Cameron Archer and Rodrigo Muniz having both returned to their parent clubs, up-front is a position Carrick will be looking to strengthen this summer, but Boro have high hopes for Coburn. One of the reasons they ultimately decided not to pursue a January move for Sunderland's Ross Stewart was because they didn't want to bring in a player with a similar skillset to Coburn who would potentially stand in the way of the youngster's development.

Former Under-23s boss Graeme Lee knows Coburn well and told the Echo last week of how he was struck by the striker's physique when he saw him at the Riverside for the Coventry play-off game earlier this month.

Matthew Hoppe, who is only a couple of years older than Coburn, is another striker who'll return to Boro this summer.

His time at Hibs was stop-start but the American will hopefully have benefited from more football than he'd have got at Boro.

Also returning from Scotland is Hayden Coulson. When Coulson joined Aberdeen on a season-long loan 12 months ago with his contract having been due to expire this summer, it looked like he had played his last game for Boro. But the picture has since changed dramatically.

Coulson signed a new contract in February, with Carrick making his intentions clear.

“Do we want to get Hayden back into the building in the summer and work with him? Of course,” said the Boro boss.

“I’ve not been fortunate enough to work with Hayden yet because he’s been away ever since I’ve been here.

“I’m looking forward to getting him back and working with him, and seeing how it goes in pre-season. That’s the plan.”

There's a vacancy on the left side after Giles' exit and while those are huge boots to fill, Coulson will return desperate to grasp an opportunity that looked unlikely to present itself six months or so ago. And in first team coach Jonathan Woodgate, Coulson has a big fan. The 24-year-old was one of the stand-out players during Woodgate's time in charge.

Another player potentially sensing an opportunity after the exit of a loanee is Sol Brynn. He enjoyed a superb season in League Two with Swindon, scooping the club's Player of the Season prize and Boro exercised a one-year extension to his contract that was due to expire this summer earlier this year.

Stepping up to become Boro's No.1 is a huge ask, especially when you consider the specific skillset Carrick wants from his goalkeeper. Signing a keeper will be a summer priority for Boro, but Brynn is likely to feature during pre-season and will want to catch the manager's eye.

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Like Brynn, midfielder Kamil Conteh has enjoyed a hugely impressive season on loan at Gateshead in the National League.

The 20-year-old, who joined Boro from Watford last summer, scored in the FA Cup first round and played at Wembley in the FA Trophy final defeat to Halifax.

Gateshead boss and former Newcastle defender Mike Williamson said earlier this season: “Kam has been brilliant for us. It’s part of his development and I’ve been on at him to keep it simple at times but he’s a monster, he’s so powerful and we are really pleased with him.

"He’s a big character in the changing room, he has a lot of charisma and a lot of energy. I would be interested to see what his ceiling is in his development because he is just a pleasure to work with and he so much ability and the right mentality."

It's a big ask for all of the above to break into a team that aims to be challenging at the top end of the Championship next term - and yet who'd have predicted 12 months ago that Hayden Hackney would play such a starring role for Boro this season.

Hackney, like Ben Gibson, Stewart Downing and several others before him at Boro, reaped the rewards of time spent out on loan and he's the obvious role model for the returning players, who have seen Carrick is not afraid to give youngsters a chance.

For the returning loanees, the start of pre-season can't come soon enough.