Middlesbrough will already be fearing repeat Ipswich Town saga come January 2025: View | OneFootball

Boro turned down a Deadline Day approach for Emmanuel Latte Lath from Ipswich Town, but they'll be fearing a potential Tractor Boys return in January.

Middlesbrough rejected a summer transfer window deadline day approach from Premier League side Ipswich Town for talisman Emmanuel Latte Lath, but their hierarchy will be fearing a January return by the Tractor Boys for their star striker.

Boro must've been confident that they'd been able to stay true to their 'not for sale' sign outside the Ivorian's door, but when Ipswich came knocking in the dying hours of the transfer window with a reported bid of £20m, their entire summer of hard work repelling interest was under serious threat.

Latte Lath did not travel to Wales amid this late twist due to not being in the right frame of mind amid the transfer twist, as the rest of Michael Carrick's squad jetted down to Cardiff on the eve of their Championship tussle with the Bluebirds the following day.

As it happened, Middlesbrough were able to fend off Kieran McKenna's side, and as soon as it was clear that a move would not be materialising, Latth Lath made his way across the British Isles and linked up with the squad in time to be named on the bench for the August 31 clash.

Boro may well be able to breathe a sigh of relief for now, but as others welcome in the new year, Middlesbrough's chiefs will be hoping their New Year's resolution of keeping their starman on Teesside for a while longer will come true.

Losing Emmanuel Latte Lath mid-season could cost Middlesbrough dearly

If there's ever a time you don't want to lose your star player, it's in the January transfer window. Whilst you may receive an inflated transfer fee for the player, replacing them mid-season with someone of the same ilk is always an incredibly difficult task to pull off.

Come January, Middlesbrough could well find themselves firmly among the Championship's promotion contenders, and if so, will surely only be interested in strengthening their team rather than weakening it.

As other clubs are beginning to find out, Middlesbrough's head of football Kieran Scott is no soft touch when it comes to transfer negotiations, refusing to cash in on key assets unless they feel totally confident that they will be the winners of the trade.

Therefore, it would surely take a fee that is comfortably north of £20 million for the Teessiders to even consider letting Lath go in January, should Ipswich or any other interested party come to the table.

That's because the importance Lath has to Boro's chances of promotion this season is something you can't really put a price on, as he looks to build on his 16 goals in 30 Championship appearances from last season.

Should he replicate, and possibly improve upon that tally this term, the 25-year-old could make all the difference as to whether Teesside will be welcoming back Premier League football to their town for the first time in eight years.

Replacing a striker of Lath's quality would be practically impossible in January, and could go a long way to derailing their promotion hopes. With Josh Coburn on loan with Millwall until the end of the season, Boro would have to rely heavily on Tommy Conway to score the goals to get the club over the line.

Latte Lath should focus on realising Premier League dream with Middlesbrough

Whilst it's true that, particularly as a Championship club, you can't hold back the career of a star performer forever, you can also reach a compromise with them.

That's exactly what Middlesbrough should be looking to do with Latte Lath this season, as he embarks on his second term donning Boro's number nine shirt.

Scott, Carrick and the rest of Middlesbrough's decision makers should be making it clear to Lath that if he performs like he did last season, having the same sort of impact and bagging a similar number of goals, then there's every chance he'll be a Premier League striker next season with Boro anyway.

The compromise should then be that, if he does meet that individual criteria, and Middlesbrough aren't plying their trade among English football's elite in 2025/26, then the club won't stand in his way should he wish to pursue a big-money move in the summer.

It appears as if something along those lines may well have been agreed, as Boro supporters grew understandably concerned over whether Lath will have had his head turned by Ipswich's interest, thus having a knock-on effect on his attitude and commitment levels for the remainder of the season.

But the very fact that he made the decision to race down to Wales to be with the squad and make himself available to Carrick, would suggest that his mind is in the right place, and that he remains committed to giving his all for the team every week moving forward.

Speaking in an interview with The Northern Echo, Boro's head of football, Scott, said: "Emmanuel came in to speak to us and it was a really honest conversation with a boy who'd had an approach from a Premier League football club and he just wanted to talk it through.

"It coincided with the time that the boys were travelling (to Cardiff). There was nothing in that, there was no funny games going on, it was just the timing.

"Once we'd had a conversation, we explained where we were. The boy took it brilliantly, no issues and it was a marker of the boy that he wanted to get in the car and get straight down to Cardiff and join the team to go and win the game.

"No problem. All part of the deadline day experience and we move on."

Lath should see the 2024/25 season as a win-win. Score enough goals and there's a good chance I'll be a Premier League player with Middlesbrough, and if the club falls short, nobody on Teesside will hold it against me if I search for a dream move in the summer.