Middlesbrough issued surprising Emmanuel Latte Lath transfer claim - It involves 13-goal star | OneFootball

FLW's Middlesbrough fan pundit has been speaking on the need for Boro to replace Emmanuel Latte Lath this summer.

This article is part of Football League World’s 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

The record-breaking sale of Emmanuel Latte Lath to MLS side Atlanta United during the winter transfer window was a real watershed moment in Middlesbrough's 24/25 season.

Boro decided to cash in on their prolific centre-forward in February, bagging a club-record and MLS record £22.5m fee for the Ivorian international.

Teesside Live recently revealed that the MLS outfit presented Latte Lath with a £70,000-a-week contract, something that Middlesbrough simply couldn't compete with.

In the following months after his exit, Michael Carrick's attack was noticeably blunted, and for many Boro fans, this sale was an easy moment to point towards in their team's campaign as to why they fell short in their play-off push.

"Other options" - Claim made on importance of Middlesbrough signing Emmanuel Latte Lath replacement

We asked our Middlesbrough fan pundit, Jasper Hudson: 'Do you think it's essential Boro sign a proper replacement for Latte Lath this summer? If so, who would you like Boro to be targeting and why?'

Hudson said: "I'm a big Tommy Conway fan.

"Whilst he's not a direct replacement for Latte Lath in terms of characteristics, he's a very likeable striker. He gets goals, he gets in the right positions, he works hard for the team, he's got the right attitude and ethics.

"He's been one of the few bright sparks in the second half of the season. I feel bad for him because without Ben Doak, it's been a lot harder for the whole team to create chances.

"So, I think if he'd had Doak and he'd scored a few penalties, he would've had a lot more goals. I think it's been an impressive first season. He definitely needs support in that attack - that needs to be improved.

"There needs to be better options available off the bench and around him, but I don't think signing a striker to replace Latte Lath is the first point of call for improving our attack.

"I think there's other options, and especially look at the defence first, as opposed to the attack."

Tommy Conway can replace Latte Lath's goals, but Middlesbrough may need to replace other traits they lost

Signed for a reported fee of £4.5m from Bristol City in the summer transfer window, Conway has certainly made a strong impression in his first season on Teesside.

The 22-year-old Scotland international hit 13 Championship goals for Boro in 36 appearances this past season, as well as notching one assist.

As evidenced in the table above (per FotMob), both Conway and Latte Lath posted extremely similar numbers in key attacking categories, such as goals per 90 and shots on target per 90 in the second tier this season.

Therefore, Conway certainly appears to have the potential to replace Latte Lath's goal production for Middlesbrough, and as such, it's perhaps the traits that came with Lath's game that Boro need to replace.

Lath, a £4m signing from Atalanta in the summer of 2023, brought raw pace, relentless pressing high up the pitch, and superb aerial ability to Michael Carrick's squad during his time at the Riverside Stadium.

Whilst Conway isn't slow by any means, he doesn't possess the sort of blazing speed that the Ivorian has, and whilst he does also work extremely hard off the ball, Boro's Scottish striker also doesn't have that sideline-to-sideline pressing speed that Lath does.

Winning the ball high up the pitch and forcing defenders into hurried clearances was a real strong point of Lath's game as a result, and losing that kind of element from your team is bound to have a negative impact.

Therefore, in Conway, Middlesbrough seem to have found a worthy goalscoring successor to Latte Lath. Now Boro may need to complement that with a player who shares a similar profile to their former hitman in order to fully replace their former number nine.