Michael Carrick says Isaiah Jones’s Middlesbrough career came to a natural end, as he hinted they won’t necessarily replace the winger like-for-like.

Jones’s four-and-a-half-year stay at Boro came to an end on Friday when the 25-year-old completed his move to Luton Town. Boro are believed to have accepted a bid worth up to £5 million for the wide man, who has struggled for form and confidence in recent years.

Jones, who was a breakout star in 2021-22 but failed to reach those heights again after Carrick’s arrival, also had well-documented mental health battles off the pitch as he lived far from his London family home. In that sense, and with Jones struggling for game-time due to Ben Doak’s grip of the right wing this season, it felt like a good move for all parties.

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Carrick said: “It was a natural one in the end, for us as a club, in terms of what we see next, and for Izzy, in terms of wanting to play a little bit more than he has done. He’s moving back down south – I don’t want to speak for him and his reasons, but there’s a bigger picture than just one reason. As a club, we just felt it was the right time, and the natural time, to move on.”

While Jones will be fondly remembered by Boro fans - particular for that highlight-reel first season of fun and entertainment - talk ultimately always very quickly turns to what next in football. What next from Boro’s perspective is what Jones’s exit means in terms of their own incoming business.

Entering the January transfer window with a squad at its maximum permitted size, Jones’s departure creates a space for an incoming arrival. It’s something Boro are working on and assessing as the window goes on and they look at any possible opportunities to strengthen.

Goalkeeper is known to be a position of interest given current injuries to Sol Brynn and Seny Dieng and a potential loan move for Bournemouth’s Marl Travers is an option they’re currently exploring. As for replacing Jones, Carrick hinted it might not necessarily be like-for-like, as sources indicated to Teesside Live that weekend reports from Bulgaria linking the club to versatile forward Marin Petkov are wide of the mark.

On the work for incoming transfers amid Jones’s exit, Carrick said: “I think there’s a balance to that. There’s other ways we can deal with it – it doesn’t necessarily mean one in, one out. There’s different options we have, and that’s something we’ll need to look at. It depends who’s available and how they’re available. We’ve obviously got ideas of how we want to approach that, but at this stage, we are where we are, and we’ll see what happens next.

“Of course, we’re looking, although I think what happens is what’s going to happen. We’re not going to do something for the sake of it, that’s for sure. We’re not going to sign someone just for numbers. It’s something we’re looking at though, and we’ll see what opportunities come our way.”

In a separate post-match interview with BBC Radio Tees, Carrick said of transfers: “We’re feeling positive and we’ll see what we can do. We have some good players here and it’s not always the case that things are better elsewhere. We want to get that balance right, but certainly we want to keep improving.”

Connected slightly to the Jones exit is the fact that there remains plenty of uncertainty over Doak’s future at the club, with Liverpool having a recall option this month and currently receiving plenty of enquiries and offers for the winger. But Boro were ultimately happy to let Jones go in a move that made sense for all parties and viewed that, even if Jones had stayed, Doak would need replacing if he does end up leaving early. In that sense, Jones’s exit didn't need to be connected to the Doak saga and was decided on its own merit.