Isaiah Jones's football fairytale story at Middlesbrough has come to an end as his four-and-a-half year stay concluded with confirmation of his transfer to Luton Town.

Having fallen down the pecking order at the Riverside and struggling for game-time this season, the 25-year-old opted on a move closer to his childhood home in London, as he joined the Hatters. Boro are understood to be receiving a fee in the region of £5 million, including potential performance-related add-ons.

The transfer ends a remarkable story for the winger at Boro, having been plucked from non-league obscurity to quickly become a Championship break-out star. It was a career that might not have been, with Jones thrice failing to win a contract at Charlton Athletic after trial periods as a youngster.

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Instead, he joined Tooting and Mitcham, who at the time played in the eighth tier of English football. It was there that Boro scout Martin Carter spotted the young wide forward, alongside his team-mate Sam Folarin. The pair were quickly brought to Teesside in 2019, and it didn't take long for Jones to make an impression.

Returning from a fruitful loan spell at Queen of the South in the summer of 2021, he caught Neil Warnock's eye in pre-season that summer and made the most of his opportunity when he came off the bench in the opening game of that season at Fulham, setting up Boro's equaliser in a draw with the eventual promotion winners.

Though Jones stayed in and around the first-team picture from that point, the best would come a few months later when Warnock was replaced by Chris Wilder. Despite spending all of his youth career as a wide forward, Wilder converted Jones to make him fit his wing-back system and he became a star of that Boro side.

So impressive was Jones's form in that Wilder setup that he was being linked to Premier League sides at that point. Unfortunately, the Lambeth-born star didn't ever quite live up to those early highs in the years since.

Wilder’s reign lasted less than 12 months before he was replaced by Michael Carrick. Though the current Boro boss oversaw a huge improvement in Boro results in general, and helped coach a number of players to make huge improvements, Jones had a bigger battle on his hands.

The loss of a number of family members in close succession while so far away from home sent Jones into a spiral. It was kept under wraps for the remainder of that season before he decided to bravely open up on his mental health battle - undoubtedly inspiring and supporting many other young men facing similar and struggling.

Boro fans quickly rallied behind Jones and he was left overwhelmed when Red Faction organised a banner declaring their support for his battle to be displayed at Boro's training ground. As he began to feel in a better place mentally, he started to get his career back on track last season as he returned to the fold.

Despite that, for whatever reason, he still struggled to re-find the heights of that remarkable breakthrough campaign. There remained much hope and support for Jones at Boro heading into the new season, but a difficult start to the campaign followed by the unexpected arrival of Liverpool loan star Ben Doak ultimately flattened Jones's prospects. After just two starts since September, his Boro fairytale comes to an end with confirmation of his move to Luton.

Reports had emerged last month that he might look to leave; that he'd grown frustrated with his lack of game-time. Despite that, there was absolutely no sign of that in the effort he put into every appearance, or the big smile he wore on his face whenever he was in public. In a true sign of the man beyond the footballer, Jones recently paid for a taxi to get popular Boro fan Yusuf Jama home after the win at QPR.

Ultimately, as his time at Boro ends probably more with a hint of disappointment more than anything else, it's ultimately a transfer that feels rightly timed for all parties. It's a good deal for Boro financially, while for Jones, it's perhaps an opportunity to try and resurrect his career and get himself back on track after a couple of difficult seasons since that magnificent breakthrough.