The Five Stripes’ search to lock down a Designated Player up top before the end of the winter transfer window has honed in on two potential targets, according to Tom Bogert at GIVEMESPORT.
Update as of 9:00 A.M. Eastern, January 12, 2025: Luca Bendoni has stated that Atlanta United have submitted an offer of around €18 million for Emmanuel Latte Lath.
After the smoke around a potential Kyogo Furuhashi deal was smothered, Atlanta United’s focus has apparently shifted to other targets across the Atlantic.
Emmanuel Latte Lath, a 26 year old playing for Middlesbrough FC in the EFL Championship, and Odsonne Edouard, another 26 year old currently at Leicester City on loan from Crystal Palace are both players that Atlanta’s brass have eyes on to fill the vacancy up top. Either would require Garth Lagerwey to again open up the hypothetical war chest of funds acquired over the past season, with Edouard and Latte Lath each valued at €14.00m and €10.00m on Transfermarkt, respectively.
Edouard only has eight appearances so far this season between Crystal Palace and Leicester, with six of those in the Premier League totaling 142 minutes. The Frenchman has no goals or assists, but did score seven goals for Palace last year across 1,555 minutes. His time at Celtic from 2018 to 2021 prior to his move to Celtic was stellar, though, scoring 66 goals in 116 matches. That 0.57 ratio is the highest goals per appearance ratio in Scottish Premiership history (and slightly above one Kyogo Furuhashi, who currently has 61 goals in 113 appearances). With neither Palace nor Leicester interested in keeping Edouard around, he could be an easy pickup for the Five Stripes.
While Odsonne Edouard has recently stalled, Latte Lath has thrived with Middlesbrough. The Ivorian forward has 10 goals and 2 assists in the Championship this season across 26 appearances, following up a 16 goal 1 assist year previously. After coming up in Atalanta’s youth system, Latte Lath was loaned out to a plethora of clubs until 2023, when he joined Boro on a four year contract for a fee of just over $5 million. He has received recent interest from Leeds United and West Ham, according to reports, but his club has placed a £15 million ($18.3 million USD) price tag on the in-form striker.
Either forward would help to satiate a fanbase hungry for a “big” signing, each being prime aged and experienced at a high level. However, the two vary in current form and associated fee attached.
Which DP no. 9 target would you prefer Atlanta to push for? Sound off in the comments below.
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[…] Report: Emmanuel Latte Lath, Odsonne Edouard are targets for Atlanta United’s striker search […]
Statement from his agent on Dec 16th
Agent Predicts January Moving Potential for Emmanuel Latte Lath Amid Resurgent Form
As the January transfer window looms, all eyes are on Middlesbrough’s rising star, Emmanuel Latte Lath. His agent, Matthias Veneroso, has hinted at potential transfer interest as the striker rekindles his scoring touch, netting six goals in nine Championship appearances over the past two months. Most recently, he played a pivotal role in securing three crucial points for Boro against Millwall on Saturday.
Interest in Latte Lath has been brewing, with reports indicating that West Ham United dispatched a scout to monitor his performance last month.
Veneroso, speaking to TuttoMercatoWeb via Sport Witness, expressed optimism about a possible move in January, stating,
“He’s back to scoring. Eight goals in the first part of the Championship and we expect something to happen in January. Strikers always attract attention during this window. During the last transfer window Ipswich Town made a £20 million late bid for the Ivorian, a move which Boro swiftly rejected, retaining the talented forward instead”
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/surprise-emmanuel-latte-lath-transfer-30761758
Boro media suggests they will sit on this offer to see if an EPL side ups the numbers.
It really comes down to if the player wants to be a star in MLS or a lower part of an attack by committee at a larger EPL team
Agreed, while I won’t pretend to know anymore than what I just read in this article, he doesn’t seem an inspiring move…
Middlesbrough turned down a £20 million offer from Ipswich town (English Premier league club) in August 24. He’s only gone up in value since then so unlikely they would accept a lesser offer
True, but it’s worth considering that they may be more hesitant to sell + ask for more money if they’re selling him to a club they’ll inevitably (or most likely) have to play at some point. If he crosses the Atlantic they won’t have to deal with him on the other side of the ball, so perhaps Atlanta could squeak out a solid deal
And no one can confirm Ipswich made an actual offer or just asked for a number. I assume you’re right that there would be an additional fee tacked on for transfer to a team directly competing with Boro for relegation/promotion to EPL yearly.
Glad to see some rumors flying. Do not know enough about these 2 to get excited, but they sound solid. Hope to bring whomever in soon to get reps during the preseason.
Feels like Latte may fit our team a bit better. Edouard looks very solid as well, but does not appear to have that first defender mentality that Deila is going to look for. Also, quite a few more goals from Latte that were from runs behind the defenders. That feels more like what the front office is looking for and what Mirunchuk would thrive with. Also what made Kyogo looks so promising. Latte feels more like a like-for-like swap for Kyogo.
Not cool. Sure sounds bad, especially the part about him refusing to pay the court-ordered restitution. It was 8 years ago so if nothing else, hopefully he has matured.
Sorry, but I dont want anything to do with a player who did something like that.
I wasnt a big fan of the guilty until proven innocent mindset some fans had towards Almada, but this is a different situation for me.
Among a variety of other reasons, I dont want even the slightest potential for that kind of presence anywhere near the locker room.
I don’t disagree, but since we are apparently considering him, my hope is he has grown the F up in the last 8 years if we sign him.
[…] Report: Emmanuel Latte Lath, Odsonne Edouard are targets for Atlanta United’s striker search […]
Latte has some really good numbers. I would love to see the club get him and work on a winger to fill out the other DP spot (any news on Palma?????)
Big news! Thanks for the update. I’ll have a Latte please.