There's news of an expected summer exit at Middlesbrough, a forgotten Newcastle signing moving on and the latest on Sunderland's head coach search in this week's North East Notes.

Coulson set for move

Middlesbrough defender Hayden Coulson is set for a permanent exit this summer - with Blackpool keen on signing the left-back on a permanent basis after his loan spell there in the second half of the season.

Coulson joined the Seasiders in January and impressed at Bloomfield Road, making 17 League One starts.

The 25-year-old looked set to depart Boro last year, only to sign a new deal while he was on loan at Aberdeen and returned last summer hoping to impress head coach Michael Carrick.

He started the first two games of the most recent Championship season but didn't play another minute in the league before his January loan, which was his sixth temporary move away from Boro.

Coulson has Lukas Engel and Alex Bangura blocking his route to the first team - and further strengthening at left-back is something Boro have discussed and is a possibility this summer.

Coulson has one year left on his current contract - with Boro having the option to extend that by a further 12 months.

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley previously told of how "fantastic" Coulson had made a "real difference" after joining from Boro. 

Sunderland's Bayern wait

Sunderland's search for a new boss goes on after a week of twists and dramatic developments.

As we know, Will Still is now no longer in contention to take charge at the Stadium of Light - despite the fact that Sunderland sources say this time last week the Black Cats had agreed a deal with the 31-year-old to become the next head coach.

They thought they had their man - but then Lens made their interest known.

Interestingly, hours before the Still developments on Friday, Rene Maric was again installed as favourite with the bookmakers to be the next Sunderland boss.

Sunderland are still said to have "live targets" and Maric is understood to be one of them - so it's all eyes on Bayern Munich.

The suggestion in Germany this week has been that Maric, Bayern's Under-19s boss, is set to be be promoted by new boss Vincent Kompany to join the first team coaching staff. But the former Burnley boss is yet to confirm the make-up of his backroom team.

Kompany's plans also impact on Middlesbrough, with Aaron Danks wanted by the former Manchester City defender.

As for Sunderland, the Still twist was undoubtedly a blow but club sources were insistent the Black Cats had other leading targets to turn to and, more than 100 days into the search for a head coach, absolutely weren't back to square one. How will the next week or two play out?

There has been a bit of movement in the coaching team in recent days, with Anthony Hayes leaving to become assistant manager at Gillingham.

Hayes joined Sunderland on a short-term deal in February to assist Mike Dodds.

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Forgotten signing leaves Newcastle

Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett were undoubtedly the headline Newcastle exits this week when the Magpies confirmed their retained list. The experienced pair were two of five senior players released.

But United also confirmed 13 academy departures - which included the exit of forgotten signing Rodrigo Vilca.

The Peruvian was included in the academy list but he's now 25 and never got close to a senior first team debut after signing from Deportivo Muncipal on deadline day in October 2020.

His only experience of first team football in England was during a difficult loan spell with Doncaster. He returned to his homeland with a move to Universitario before he spent this season in Serbia with Vozdovac, where he struggled for starts and suffered relegation from the top flight.

Amadou Diallo, Michael Ndiweni, Will Brown, Jude Smith, Jordan Hackett, Matthew Bondswell, Lucas De Bolle, Kyle Crossley, Dylan Stephenson, Shaun Mavididi, Taylor Ross and Carter Milmore were the other youngsters released.

Boro striker stance and ex-frontman's new club

Boro are in the market for a centre-forward this summer but one striker who isn't on their radar, despite links this week, is St Johnstone's Adama Sidibeh.

On the subject of St Johnstone, the Scottish Premiership side this week landed a former Boro striker in Uche Ikpeazu.

The 29-year-old former Hearts frontman has had spells with Turkish side Konyaspor and Port Vale since leaving Boro but has now signed a two-year deal with St Johnstone.

He said: “I’m excited, I can focus on this new journey and challenge back here in Scotland.

“I’m looking forward to imposing myself on the league. The supporters might know me from my time in the Scottish Premiership before. I’m a more mature player now and want to exceed my own expectations.

“I’m hungry, determined, focused and can’t wait to see everyone at McDiarmid Park. I know where I’m at and I can really get the head down and build forward.”