MICHAEL Carrick admits he has an "important" decision to make when it comes to Sonny Finch and whether or not Middlesbrough should send the talented young forward out on loan this season.

The 18-year-old is highly thought of on Teesside and caught the eye from the bench in Saturday's 3-0 friendly win over Bolton Wanderers at Bishop Auckland, scoring Boro's second goal.

Finch immediately impressed Carrick after the head coach's arrival a couple of years ago and played his way into the first team picture at the back end of the 2022/23 season.

His progress was disrupted last term by an ankle injury that required surgery but after a lengthy absence he returned in the second half of the season and wasted no time in rediscovering his scoring touch for the Under-21s, which led to four appearances on the first team bench and a cameo in the April win over Swansea City at the Riverside.

The teenager, who turns 19 next month, has spent pre-season so far training with the first team and was one of only a handful of academy youngsters picked to be part of the squad for the recent trip to Portugal.

Carrick and his coaching team are now debating what happens next.

Boro's head coach doesn't have a one size fits all approach when it comes to young players and loan moves, with decisions made depending on what will best suit each individual.

If Boro decided a loan move was the best course of action for Finch this summer, there'd be no shortage of interest in the versatile forward.

But there are times where even if a player isn't necessarily going to feature prominently for Boro, Carrick believes they are still better off learning and progressing training with the first team every day.

“It’s the same with all the young lads really, there’s a balance to be struck," explained the Boro boss.

"We can have him with us, and that’ll be good for him to learn. He’ll benefit from being part of the group.

"He’s been unlucky with injuries, so we’ll be trying to get him into that routine of getting through training sessions and playing in games. That’ll help take his game to another level, but at this stage, we’ll have to see what happens.

"He’s doing a lot of good things at the moment. We’ll keep trying to develop and improve him, and then make the best choice of what the next step is for him.

"Each individual is different. Just because one player goes out on loan, it doesn’t mean that’s the best thing for a different player in a similar position. It’s important we get that choice right. We’ll see. I can’t really commit either way at this stage.”

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Finch is comfortable across the attack, either as a striker or as a deeper supporting forward. Whichever role he plays, he's a goal threat and scored six times in just seven Premier League 2 appearances for Boro's Under-21s last season.

His goal against Bolton on Saturday was an instinctive close-range finish and he had a couple of chances to add to that, despite only coming off the bench for the final half hour.

“He’s got a really terrible knack of finding the back of the net, hasn’t he," said Carrick, whose side continue their preparations for the coming Championship season with a trip to face National League side Gateshead tomorrow night.

"He finds himself in good positions, and I even thought he might have scored with the other chance he had, knowing what he’s like. He always finds himself in those good positions.

"He’s had a stop-start time over the last year or 18 months with injuries, but we’ll try and keep him fit and give him good experiences. I’m sure the goal will have been good for him."