Any hopes the Leeds United faithful had of a busy January went up in smoke a while ago.
Daniel Farke was expecting a ‘quiet’ window from the get-go, the Leeds United boss talking up the benefits of a small squad and the risks of adding unnecessary depth to a tight-knit and highly competitive group.
Yet, as Joe Gelhardt leaves on loan for Hull City and Patrick Bamford attracts interest – Blackburn Rovers confirmed their interest in Leeds’ number nine this week – there is a chance that Farke’s attacking options look weaker at the start of February than they did at the start of January.
In theory, letting Bamford go and bringing in Emmanuel Latte Lath as his replacement would have potentially been an outstanding trade.
Yet, as it becomes increasingly clear that Latte Lath will not be swapping the Riverside for Elland Road, Leeds may be back to square one in any pursuit of potential centre-forward targets.
West Ham make Leeds United’s Emmanuel Latte Lath hopes even more slim
Leeds United News were informed by football correspondent Graeme Bailey that Leeds are big fans of Middlesbrough frontman Latte Lath. But in addition to his reported price-tag – rumoured to be in the region of £20 million – and with interest now from the division above, it is certainly difficult to imagine Farke’s side winning the race without the added benefits of Premier League riches.
West Ham have admired Latte Lath for a while now.
The former Atalanta man is on an extensive list of Hammers targets, including Andre Silva, Hwang Hee-Chan, Marcus Rashford, Evan Ferguson and Brazil internationals Igor Jesus and Yuri Alberto.
West Ham even made an ambitious bid for Aston Villa sensation Jhon Duran.
Latte Lath certainly feels more attainable than most of the aforementioned options. And, speaking after kick-starting his London Stadium reign with a 3-2 win over Fulham on Tuesday night, new boss Graham Potter insisted that West Ham will jump at the chance to add another striker to their ranks should the opportunity arise.
“If we can find a player that helps us and helps the team, then of course we will do that,” the former Chelsea, Swansea City and Brighton and Hove Albion boss says.
“I think if we don’t, it’s my responsibility to try and find solutions with the players we have.”
Michael Carrick hopes to keep Middlesbrough striker
Latte Lath, a surprise replacement for Chuba Akpom when the then-Championship Golden Boot winner left Middlesbrough for Ajax in 2023, has a respectable 28 goals in 64 second-tier games under Michael Carrick.
A man who tends to score in purple patches rather than with any great consistency still has a long way to go to prove he is indeed the real deal, however, and it remains to be seen how his inconsistencies translate to the unforgiving world of the Premier League.
Last week, Carrick admitted that he hopes to retain the 26-year-old Ivorian – Latte Lath will be central to any promotion challenge – but offered no guarantees.
“You never know what’s out there and what’s going to come, who’s going to offer what. That’s not just about Manu, that’s any player,” Carrick said.
“It’s a transfer window and anyone can offer what they want. So for me to sit here and say I’m confident or I’m not confident [of keeping Latte Lath], it doesn’t really matter or affect it, because we’ve no idea what might come.
“We’re happy with the squad we’ve got and we want to keep that squad together as much as we can. We want to be stronger at the end of January, which is obvious.”
“How confident I am [about retaining Latte Lath] doesn’t matter because we don’t know what’s out there,” the Manchester United legend added. “By the same token, we might be looking at other players and their current clubs aren’t yet aware, then things happen.
“We’ve just got to be calm. We know what we want it to look like and we’ll make good decisions when we need to.”
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