Middlesbrough right to exclude themselves from this January striker race | OneFootball

Middlesbrough are one of many teams who will be in the battle for the play-offs in the latter stages of the season, and they may be looking at January as a key month to benefit them due to the transfer window.

They had a slow start to the campaign as they didn't win any league games in their first seven but then kick-started it with a victory over Southampton.

Even though they have turned their form around and now sit three points off the play-off places, they have a bit of an issue up front as they only have one striker who has a decent number of goals so far.

Emmanuel Latte Lath has scored six goals since joining from Italian club Atalanta in the summer. He was bought to replace Chuba Akpom who left to join Ajax, but Boro could still do with some more firepower.

TEAMTALK, with little interest in reuniting with an old flame.

How has Rodrigo Muniz played this season for Fulham?

Muniz joined Fulham from Brazilian side Flamengo in 2021, but this season has been his first experience of the Premier League.

In the summer, Marco Silva lost star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to the Saudi League, and he brought in Raul Jimenez as his replacement, although he hasn't lived up to expectations yet.

Due to this, Muniz was getting some limited minutes off the bench until after he scored in the League Cup against Ipswich Town, and then he was given a chance to start against Manchester United.

The 22-year-old looked promising at times, but he had to go off due to a knee injury which left him in tears, suggesting he was going to be out for a prolonged period - as it is, he is expected to be back soon.

Michael Carrick should avoid bringing Muniz back to the club in January

Of course, Carrick will know the Brazilian rather well due to the fact he had him at the club last season, but things didn't go too well for him.

He started the campaign brightly as he scored two goals in his first four league games, but that wasn't under Carrick when he found the back of the net against Watford and Cardiff City.

Muniz only made six appearances under Carrick, with just one in the starting line-up. After that, he didn't even feature in the matchday squad as Boro charged towards the play-off places.

According to the report, Fulham are going to make a decision on his future in January with Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers interested, so the option could be there for Middlesbrough if they do, indeed, change their minds.

It isn't clear whether it was a case of Carrick not rating him or that Boro's options were too good. If it was the former, it would be a waste of everyone's time if he were to give him a second chance, especially when goals will be needed due to how tight the league table is right now and how we expect it to be in the months to come.

Your gut feeling is that Boro are right to exclude themselves and possibly look for another forward who may give them an edge in the latter stages of the campaign.