"Not enough" - Middlesbrough FC: Doubts cast over £20m Emmanuel Latte Lath, Atlanta United transfer | OneFootball

Our Boro fan pundit does not think Emmanuel Latte Lath should go to Atlanta United over the Premier League if he is to leave the club

Middlesbrough striker Emmanuel Latte Lath has been urged not to move to MLS side Atlanta United this month, after a bid for his services from the Five Stripes, with it deemed unlikely that he would choose a move to the USA's top-flight over the Premier League if he was to leave Boro.

Latte Lath joined Boro in 2023 on a four-year deal from Serie A side Atalanta, and enjoyed a fruitful debut season in English football under Michael Carrick, as he netted 18 goals in 36 games in all competitions.

The Ivorian frontman subsequently attracted serious interest from newly-promoted Premier League outfit Ipswich Town late in the summer window but stayed on Teesside, and has more recently been linked with a potential move to fellow top-flight side West Ham United, as well as fellow Championship promotion-chasers Leeds United.

He started this season slowly in front of goal for Carrick's side, with just one strike in the opening 10 league games, but has begun to net at a much-improved rate in recent months, and MLS outfit Atlanta have now moved to submit a bid for his services worth around €18m and €1m in add-ons, according to reporter Luca Bendoni.

Emmanuel Latte Lath, Atlanta move deemed unlikely by Boro fan pundit

A fresh update around Atlanta's pursuit of the Ivorian striker has emerged since their bid was initially revealed, with The Northern Echo claiming that Boro are yet to respond to the American side's offer, which is said to be more towards the £20 million mark than the €19 million that was initially reported, and are instead likely to see what impact it has on the market and whether it sparks further bids.

It is understood that there are several clubs in the Premier League and overseas closely monitoring Latte Lath's situation this month, and FLW's Middlesbrough fan pundit, Jasper Hudson, is surprised that Atlanta have made the first official move for his services, and believes that if he is to leave Teesside soon, he should choose a Premier League side over the MLS.

“Atlanta coming in for Latte Lath is a bit of a surprise. I’m not sure why they think that they can sign him over a Premier League club,” Jasper told FLW.

“They will obviously have plenty of finances to be able to offer him a big wage, but he is 26 years old, has developed really nicely since joining us, and I think the aim for him should be the Premier League.

“The money is not enough either. We’ve rejected a £20 million bid from Ipswich, and in January, everybody’s prices rise a bit because it’s mid-season.

“I’d think the £25 million to £28 million pound region is the fee we should be expecting, or trying to get.

“I feel like that’s possible, but if we don’t get that, to let him go for £20 million isn’t worth it, and we should just keep him for the rest of the season.

“I’m surprised that Atlanta have come in for him. I don’t see why they could sign him, but it is probably the most serious offer we’ve had yet for him.

“It'll be interesting to see whether he would want to go to the MLS, but at 26, when there is the prospect of playing in the Premier League, I can’t see why he would make that move.”

Emmanuel Latte Lath seems destined for a Premier League move at some point

While interest in Major League Soccer has grown massively in recent years, football in the USA still has a long way to go to achieve the prestige and boast the history that the Premier League does, as the English top-flight is easily the biggest in the world in terms of money and stature.

With that said, it would be a real shock to see Latte Lath make the move to Atlanta anytime soon, as they may well be able to offer a salary that is a huge improvement on his current Middlesbrough contract, but a potential move to a Premier League club is surely in the pipeline for the 26-year-old, and that would likely appeal much more than a move to the MLS.

Given his impressive form towards the end of last season, and Boro's subsequent failure to reach the play-offs in eighth place, it came as no surprise that speculation around Latte Lath's future was a huge talking point throughout the summer window, yet it was only in late August that the Teessiders first received a concrete approach for his services.

Wolves were first reported with interest in his signature in early August, alongside Monaco, Red Bull Salzburg and Stuttgart, but the Northern Echo reiterated Boro's stance of Latte Lath not being for sale unless they received an eye-watering offer that would be too good to turn down.

Said offer came too late in the window, as Ipswich made a last-gasp £20m bid for the Ivorian on deadline day, and he soon found himself at the centre of a dramatic late summer transfer saga after he had initially not travelled with his teammates for Boro's away clash at Cardiff City the day after, but the club turned down the Tractor Boys' approach, having dismissed previous proposals short of their valuation.

His form this season has been inconsistent, but that has seemingly not put West Ham off a possible January move, as journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claimed that Hammers scouts were present to watch him bag a hat-trick at Oxford United in November.

Football Insider have recently revealed that Latte Lath is still on the Irons' striker shortlist after Graham Potter was hired as their new boss last week, with his potential to improve even further and real clinical ability in front of goal making him an attractive prospect to top-flight teams in real need of more striker depth.

Atlanta may well have prioritised the signing of the Ivorian this month to help them improve on a ninth-placed finish in the MLS' Eastern Conference last season, when their new campaign starts in February, but it seems pretty unlikely that he will make the move to the south-west of the states anytime soon, given the real interest from teams that are already in the Premier League.