Coburn joined Millwall on a season-long loan last summer, but his time at the Den has been blighted by a succession of injury issues.
The 22-year-old was sidelined after playing just two games following his loan exit from Teesside, then when he returned to action in the autumn, he suffered a broken metatarsal that ruled him out of action for another two-and-a-half months.
He has played in Millwall’s last two games though, scoring in wins over Derby and Watford that have helped lift the Lions to within three points of Boro in the Championship table.
Coburn’s form has rekindled talk over his future, with the North Yorkshireman having just over two years of his current contract with Boro remaining.
The terms of his loan move to south London do not contain a clause that would enable Millwall to complete an automatic permanent move in the summer, but Lions boss Alex Neil has publicly stated his desire to sign Coburn on a full-time basis.
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Regardless of what division they are playing in next season, Boro are likely to require a major summer rebuild, and selling Coburn could help free up funds and squad space for attacking acquisitions.
Alternatively, the striker has proved he can score on a regular basis in the Championship, and with Emmanuel Latte Lath having left in January and his temporary replacement, Kelechi Iheanacho, unlikely to be retained on a permanent basis, restoring Coburn to the first-team ranks could be a cheap and effective way of increasing Boro’s attacking options.
“Josh is doing well since he came back,” said Carrick. “He’s had a stop-start season, so it’s good to see him doing well and scoring goals. He’s scored some important goals for them (Millwall).
“He’s there until the end of the season, and that’s it as far as it stands at this stage. There’s not much for me to decide on at this stage. Anything can happen in football.
“Until something is decided or finished or done, it’s ongoing. Everything thing is. That doesn’t change for Josh, or anybody else.
“Sometimes, you might not be in the team here, then all of a sudden, you get an opening and it all changes. There’s never anything that’s all said and done until it’s all signed off.”
